AMERICAN  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 

The  Indians  of 
Manhattan  Island 
and  Vicinity 


BY  ALANSON  SKINNER 


GUIDE  LEAFLET  SERIES  No.  41  THIRD  EDITION 


POPULAR  PUBLICATIONS 
OF  THE 

AMERICAN  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 


HANDBOOKS 


These  deal  with  subjects  illustrated  by  the  collections  rather  than  with  the  objects 
themselves. 

NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIANS  OF  THE  PLAINS.  By  Clark  Wissler.  Ph.D., 
Curator  of  Anthropology.  2d  edition,  1920.  164  pages,  maps  and  illustra- 
tions, Cloth,  75  cents. 

This  gives  an  account  of  the  Material  Culture,  Social  Organization, 
Religion,  Ceremonies,  Arts  and  Languages  of  the  Plains  In  lians  of  North 
America. 

INDIANS  OF  THE  SOUTHWEST.  By  Pliny  Earle  Goddard,  Ph.D.,  Associate 
Curator,  Department  of  Anthropology.  New  edition,  1920,  190  pages,  maps 
and  many  illustrations.  Cloth,  75  cents. 

A  resum6  of  our  present  knowledge  of  these  interesting  Indians.  Among 
the  subjects  treated  are  the  Spanish  Conquest,  Cliff  Dwellings,  Native 
Weaving,  the  Potter's  Art  and  the  Hopi  Snake-dance. 
ANIMALS  OF  THE  PAST.   A  popular  account  of  some  of  the  Creatures  of  the 
Ancient  World.    By  Frederic  A.  Lucas,  Sc.D.,  Director  of  the  Museum. 
250  pages  with  41  illustrations  by  Charles  R.  Knight  and  Joseph  Gleeson.  Paper, 
50  cents. 

This,  now  revised  as  one  of  the  series  of  Museum  Handbooks,  tells  of 
mammoth  and  mastodon,  of  the  giants  among  birds,  the  sea  lizards  and  the  . 
huge  dinosaurs. 

PEOPLES  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES.    This  presents  essential  facts  as  to  the  racial 

and  cultural  characters  of  the  Philippine  Islands  population.    1919,  224  pages, 

maps  and  many  illustrations.    Cloth,  75  cents. 
FISHES  OF  THE  VICINITY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY.    By  John  Treadwell 

Nichols,  with  an  introduction  by  William  K.  Gregory.   August,  1918,  118 

pages,  many  illustrations.    Cloth,  75  cents. 


ILLUSTRATED  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 

These  describe  some  exhibit,  or  series  of  exhibits,  of  special  interest  or 
importance,  or  may  deal  with  the  contents  of  an  entire  hall. 

SOME  OF  THE  LEAFLETS 

NORTH  AMERICAN  RUMINANTS.  By  J.  A.  Allen,  Ph.D.,  Curator  of  Mam- 
malogy and  Ornithology.   Revised  edition,  February;  1904.   Price,  10  cents. 

Describes  the  rapidly  disappearing  large  game  of  North  America,  such 
as  the  Bison,  Elk  and  Mountain  Sheep. 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"Ever  thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


Avery  Arc  hitectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Di  rst  Old  York  Library 


A  MAHIKAN  INDIAN  CHIEF  FROM  THE  HUDSON  RIVER  BELOW  ALBANY 


Note  his  war  club,  the  shape  of  which  is  common  in  his  region,  the  thunderbirds 
painted  or  tattooed  on  his  face,  and  his  belt  embroidered  with  dyed  deer's  hair.  His 
totem,  the  Tortoise,  is  at  his  feet.  This  man  and  the  three  Mohawk  Chiefs  shown 
following  formed  a  party  which  visited  England  in  1709. 

From  an  engraving  in  the  possession  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society. 


INDIANS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 
AND  VICINITY. 

By  Alanson  Skinner, 
Formerly  of  the 
Department  of  Anthropology. 


INTRODUCTION. 

THERE  is  no  subject  which  makes  a  more  forceful  appeal  to  the 
student,  the  historian,  or  even  the  general  reader,  than  that  of 
the  native  inhabitants  of  what  is  now  Greater  New  York;  yet 
there  is  no  subject  upon  which  it  is  more  difficult  to  obtain  information, 
for  our  Colonial  ancestors  have  left  us  hut  few  accounts  of  their  observa- 
tions, and  these  are  in  tomes  that  are  rare  and  difficult  of  access. 

The  aborigines  themselves  have  so  nearly  passed  into  oblivion,  that 
no  help  can  be  obtained  from  their  scattered  and  degenerate  remnants  in 
exile  in  the  west,  so  that  we  must  turn  to  two  sources  for  our  knowledge: 
the  writings  of  the  first  white  settlers,  already  mentioned,  and  the 
archaeological  remains,  the  imperishable  objects  of  stone,  clay,  bone  and 
antler,  which  the  vanished  red  men  have  left  behind  them  on  their 
ancient  dwelling  places. 

The  writings  of  the  Colonists  tell  us  that  in  appearance  the  Man- 
hattan and  their  neighbors  were  tall  and  well-built,  with  black  hair  and 
eyes  and  not  unplcasing  faces.  Their  disposition  is  noted  as  mild,  except 
when  aroused,  when  they  are  said  to  have  been  very  greedy  of  vengeance. 

The  men  shaved  their  heads,  or  rather  burned  off  their  hair  with  hot 
stones,  leaving  often  a  standing  roach  of  stiff  black  hair  two  or  three 
inches  high  and  as  many  broad,  running  from  the  forehead  to  the  nape  of 
the  neck,  and  the  lock  which  hung  from  the  crown  was  generally  allowed 
to  grow  much  longer.  This  was  the  famous  scalplock,  which  the  warrior 
cultivated  in  defiance  of  t  he  enemy,  who  might  take  it  if  he  could.  Some- 
times they  wore  a  roach  of  red  dyed  deer  hair,  exactly  similar  to  those 
worn  by  the  Sauk,  Fox.  Menomini.  and  other  tribes  of  the  Central  West 
today.  Our  Indians  did  not  wear  the  feather  war-bonnet  so  characteristic 
of  the  Sioux  and  other  t  ribes  of  the  (  beat  Plains,  and  which  i<  now  always 
placed  upon  the  Indians  in  the  conventional  drawings  picturing  the  sale 
of  Manhattan  Island. 


3 


A  MOHAWK  CHIEF  FROM  THE  MOHAWK  VALLEY 

Observe  his  tattooing  and  his  belt  embroidered  with  dyed  deer's  hair.  His 
lot  cm,  the  Bear,  is  shown  at  his  side. 

From  an  engraving  in  the  possession  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society. 


INDIANS  OF  MA.\  H ATT  AN  ISLA  A  D 


The  Manhattan  and  their  neighbors,  unlike  the  Indians  west  and 
north  of  them,  wore  no  shirts  or  coats.  Instead,  they  covered  the  upper 
parts  of  their  bodies  with  robes  made  of  dressed  deerskin,  or  wolf, 
wildcat,  or  hear  fur,  or  of  the  shimmering  feathers  of  the  wild  turkey, 
neatly  attached  to  a  netted  fabric.  So  closely  and  Carefully  were  these 
feathers  applied  that  they  are  said  to  have  shed  the  rain. 

The  men  also  wore  loin  cloths  or  breechclouts  of  dressed  leather,  and 
leggings  and  moccasins  of  the  same  material.  The  moccasins  of  all  the 
Indian  tribes  east  of  the  Mississippi  had  one  point  in  common,  they  were 
soft-soled,  but  west  of  the  Mississippi  region  the  tribes  of  the  prairies 
used  hard  flat  soles  of  rawhide  for  their  shoes. 

In  addition  to  this  costume,  the  warriors  wore  necklaces  of  dyed  deer 
hair,  of  native  copper  or  shell  beads,  or  of  wampum ;  and  often  they  hung 
over  their  chests  pendants  of  stone  or  gorgets,  such  as  are  still  to  be  found 
occasionally  upon  the  sites  of  their  old  camps.  They  also  painted  their 
faces  with  various  pigments,  especially  red  and  black,  which  they  ob- 
tained from  limonite  and  graphite  fragments.  To  this  day  one  may 
find  in  the  debris  of  an  abandoned  Indian  village  bits  of  these  paint  stone- 
showing  the  striated  markings  of  the  stone  scrapers  with  which  the  color 
was  removed  for  use.  The  Manhattan,  being  a  part  of  the  Delaware 
tribe,  an  important  group  of  the  Algonkin  stock,  probably  followed  the 
ancient  Delaware  custom  of  tattooing  their  bodies,  with  designs  repre- 
senting their  dreams  and  warlike  exploits. 

Old  paintings  of  the  Delaware  show  us  that  they  wore  their  knives, 
and  even  their  tobacco  pipes  and  pouches,  suspended  from  their  necks. 
The  reason  for  wearing  their  knives  in  this  position,  old  Indians  of  some 
of  the  centra]  western  tribes  declare,  was  so  that  they  could  be  more 
readily  seized  at  a  moment's  notice.  Besides  his  deerskin  tobacco  pouch 
with  its  dyed  hair  and  porcupine  quill  embroidery  and  leathern  fringe, 
each  warrior  carried  a  war  club,  carved  of  wood,  with  a  ball-shaped  head 
set  at  right  angles  from  the  handle,  and  a  six-foot  bow  and  a  quiver  con- 
taining flint .  bone,  or  antler-tipped  arrows. 

The  women  were  differently  clot  lied  from  the  men.  They  often 
wore  their  hair  in  a  braid,  over  which  they  drew  a  "square  cap"  orna- 
mented with  wampum.  Presumably  this  hair  dress  was  similar  to  that 
used  by  the  Winnebago  and  Sauk  and  Fox  women  of  the  middle  west 
today,  examples  of  which  may  be  found  in  the  cases  in  the  Woodland 
Hall  under  the  various  tribal  designations. 

The  women,  like  the  men.  were  naked  to  the  waist .  save  for  the  robe, 
which  was  shifted  to  side  to  side,    according  to  whence  the  coldest 


A  MOHAWK  CHIEF  FROM  THE  MOHAWK  VALLEY 


His  totem  was  the  Wolf,  which  is  showmbeside  him. 
From  an  engraving  in  the  possession  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society. 


IXDIAXS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 


7 


wind  blew.  They  wore,  however,  knee  leggings  instead  of  the  hip  length 
style  of  the  warriors,  and  wrapped  about  their  waists  a  single  square 
piece  of  fringed  leather,  which  was  open  at  one  side.  Sometimes  these 
skirts  were  not  made  of  leather,  hut  instead  were  of  cloth  woven  from 
Indian  hemp,  such  as  was  also  used  to  make  hags.  The  women  covered 
their  gala  costumes  with  wampum  beads,  and  quill  or  hair  embroidery, 
so  that  some  of  the  old  chroniclers  declare  that  a  dress  of  this  sort  was 
often  worth  "above  300  guilders."  Of  course  the  women,  like  the  men, 
protected  their  feet  with  dainty  soft-soled  moccasins. 

The  houses  or  wigwams  of  the  Manhattan  and  their  neighbors  were 
never  the  conical  shaped,  leather-covered,  painted  tipis  so  often  shown  in 
illustrations.  Lodges  of  that  type  were  found  only  in  the  Great  Plains 
area,  and  northward  up  the  Mackenzie  River  and  thence  eastward  about 
Hudson  Bay  and  Labrador.  The  Manhattan  lodges  were  of  bark,  and 
they  and  the  other  local  tribes  commonly  built  either  square  or  semi- 
globular  houses  of  poles  arched  over  and  set  in  the  ground,  covered  with 
bark,  mats  made  of  rushes,  with  corn  husks,  or  sedge  grass.  Such  houses 
looked  very  much  like  wooden  bowls  turned  upside  down.  In  the  center 
of  each  wigwam  a  hole  was  dug  in  the  earthen  floor  to  hold  the  fire  so  that 
the  sparks  might  not  fly  up  and  ignite  the  dry  walls  of  the  lodge. 

In  such  fire  holes,  marking  the  sites  of  abandoned  Indian  houses, 
archaeologists  may  still  find  fire-cracked  stones,  wood  ashes,  the  split 
bones  of  deer  and  other  animals  broken  open  to  extract  the  marrow, 
oyster  shells,  fragments  of  earthen  kettles,  stone  and  bone  implements, 
and  all  the  discarded  debris  of  the  household  utensils  which  were  thrown 
away  by  their  departed  owners.  Sometimes  in  such  a  place  whole  articles 
are  found,  hidden  there  perhaps  during  a  sudden  attack  and  never 
recovered  by  the  owner.  There  too,  in  winter,  when  the  frozen  ground 
outside  made  digging  impossible,  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were  sometimes 
buried  in  the  useful  fireplace,  and, the  lodge  either  destroyed  or  set  up 
elsewhere.  In  proof  of  this  skeletons  have  often  been  found  in  these 
forgotten  fireplaces.  • 

The  interior  furnishing  of  a  round  lodge  was  simple  enough.  A 
bench  ran  all  around  the  inside  of  the  wall,  and  on  this  the  inhabitants 
both  sat  and  slept.  Poles  swung  horizontally  from  the  roof  supported 
strings  of  braided  corn,  baskets  or  bags  of  food,  and  other  paraphernalia. 
A  hole  was  left  in  the  roof,  directly  over  the  health,  for  the  smoke  to 
escape. 

Another  kind  of  house,  and  one  that  was  probably  used  most  fre- 
quently in  the  summer,  was  a  square  lodge,  made  of  pole-  and  bark,  with 


A  MOHAWK  CHIEF  FROM  THE  MOHAWK  VALLEY 

Note  the  wampum  belt.   His  totem,  the  Wolf,  is  shown  beside  him. 
From  an  engraving  in  the  possession  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society. 


INDIANS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAM) 


a  pointed  or  rounded  root'  in  which  a  long  slot  was  left  al  the  ridge  for  the 
escape  of  smoke.  Such  a  house  was  commonly  occupied  by  a  Dumber  of 
related  families,  and  corresponded  in  many  ways  with  the  long  tene- 
ments of  the  Iroquois.  None  of  the  houses  and  few  of  the  villages  of  the 
local  Indians  were  ever  defended  by  palisades  or  trenches. 

We  are  told  by  the  old  writers,  and  archaeological  invest  igat  ion  con- 
firms them,  that  the  household  utensils  of  the  Indians  were  pottery 
vessels,  nearly  always,  curiously  enough,  made  with  a  pointed  bottom,  so 
that  they  had  to  be  propped  up  with  stones  when  in  use,  calabashes  or 
gourds  for  water,  spoons  of  shell  and  wood,  wooden  bowls  laboriously 
made  by  burning  and  scraping  knots  or  burls  of  t  rees,  and  bone  awls  and 
other  tools. 

The  Indians  derived  their  livelihood  by  farming  a  little,  for  they 
raised  corn,  beans,  pumpkins,  squashes,  melons,  and  tobacco:  bin 
mostly  by  fishing,  oystering,  and  clam  gathering.  They  also  were  good 
hunters,  as  the  bones  of  various  animals,  so  common  on  their  old  kitchen 
refuse  heaps,  abundantly  prove.  However,  from  the  vast  heaps  of 
oyster,  clam,  mussel,  and  other  marine  shells,  that  may  be  found  scat- 
tered about  the  old  Indian  camping  grounds,  it  is  obvious  that  the  sea 
furnished  most  of  their  food. 

They  caught  fish  in  the  seines  and  gill  nets,  by  harpooning,  and  by 
shooting  with  the  bow  and  arrow;  they  killed  deer  and  other  game  with 
the  bow  and  arrow,  often  hunting  in  large  companies.  This  was,  wit  h  t  he 
waging  of  war,  the  duty  of  the  men;  the  women  tended  the  fields  and 
probably  built  and  owned  the  lodges. 

In  their  fishing,  and  for  traveling  by  water,  our  Indians  used  canoes, 
sometimes  made  from  heavy  elm-bark  but  more  often  hollowed  out  of 
logs.  Roger  Williams  says  of  the  Narragansett  and  their  neighbors: 

Ohs:  Mishoon,  an  Indian  Boat,  or  Canow  made  of  a  Pino  or  Oakc,  or  Chestnut- 
tree:  I  have  seene  a  Native  goe  into  the  woods  with  his  hatchet  carrying  onely  a 
Basket  of  Cqrne  with  him,  and  stones  to  strike  fire  when  he  had  felled  his  tree  I  being 
a  Chestnut)  he  made  him  a  little  House  or  shed  of  the  hark  of  it,  he  puts  fire  and  fol- 
Lowes  the  burning  of  it  with  fire,  in  the  midst  in  many  places:  his  corne  he  boyles 
and  hath  the  Brook  by  him  and  sometimes  angles  for  a  little  fish:  hut  so  hee  con- 
tinues burning  and  hewing  untill  he  hath  within  ten  or  twelve  dayes  lying  there 
at  his  work  alone)  finished,  and  (getting  hands),  launched  his  boate  with  which  after- 
ward hee  ventures  out  to  fish  in  the  Ocean. 

******* 

Obs.  Their  owne  reason  hath  taught  them,  to  pull  off  a  Coat  or  two  and  set  it 
up  on  a  small  pole,  with  which  they  will  saile  before  a  wind  ten.  or  twenty  mile  Arc. 


10  AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


Obs:  It  is  wonderfull  to  see  how  they  will  venture  in  those  Canoes,  and  how 
(being  oft  overset  as  I  have  myselfe  been  with  them)  they  will  swim  a  mile,  yea  two 
or  more  safe  to  Land:  I  having  been  necessitated  to  passe  Waters  diverse  times: 
with  them,  it  hath  pleased  God  to  make  them  many  times  the  instruments  of  my 
preservation,  and  when  sometimes  in  great  danger  I  have  questioned  safety,  they  have 
said  to  me:  Feare  not,  if  we  be  overset  I  will  carry  you  safe  to  Land.1 

The  New  York  Times  for  July  16,  1906,  writes: 

Cherry  Hill  was  the  centre  of  an  excited  crowd  all  day  yesterday  when  the  news 
got  about  that  some  workmen  had  dug  up  an  old  Indian  canoe  in  an  excavation  at 
the  corner  of  Cherry  and  Oliver  Streets. 

Men,  women,  and  boys  and  girls  flocked  to  the  spot,  and  so  blocked  the  streets 
that  the  police  of  the  Oak  Street  Station  had  to  be  sent  there  to  keep  order. 

The  lower  part  of  Oliver  Street  is  made  ground,  for  in  the  old  days  the  waters  of 
the  East  River  used  to  wash  above  the  Cherry  Street  line. 

Workmen  from  the  New  York  Edison  Compnay  had  made  an  excavation  about 
eight  feet  deep  when  they  came  to  what  seemed  to  be  a  big  log  near  the  bottom.  They 
dug  around  this  and  disclosed  to  view  what  the  police  and  all  others  who  viewed  it 
said  was  half  of  an  Indian  canoe.  Then  the  workmen,  who  dont  take  much  interest  in 
anything  pertaining  to  the  American  Indian,  promptly  got  an  axe  and  chopped  away 
until  they  got  out  the  timber  in  sight,  leaving  the  other  half  still  buried  in  the  mud. 

In  doing  this  they  split  the  canoe  into  three  pieces,  and,  followed  by  an  admiring 
crowd,  it  was  carried  to  the  corner  of  Frankfort  and  Pearl  Streets,  and  deposited  on  a 
pile  of  dirt  under  the  Franklin  Square  elevated  station,  where  the  night  watchman 
could  keep  his  eye  on  it  until  to-day,  when  the  workmen  expect  to  get  the  other  half 
and  piece  the  canoe  together. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  canoe  was  lying  in  the  mud  a  hundred  years  ago  or  more, 
when  the  river  front  was  filled  in  to  make  more  land. 

The  part  saved  is  about  7  feet  long  and  3  feet  wide,  and  14  inches  deep,  and  tapers 
to  an  abrupt  and  rounded  end,  which  is  sharp,  somewhat  like  the  Indian  canoes  of  the 
Western  Indian.  The  whole  was  hewn  from  a  solid  log  of  white  pine  about  fourteen 
feet  long. 


PART  OF  DUGOUT  CANOE 

Found  at  Cherry  St.,  New  York.  The  only  known  fragment  of  a  canoe  used  by 
the  Indians  of  Manhattan. 

Collections  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society,  vol.  1,  pp.  98-99,  Providence,  1827. 


INDIANS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 


The  Indian  children,  shortly  after  birl  h,  were  bound  to  a  stiff  board, 
which  served  as  a  cradle,  and  there  they  were  kepi  until  they  were  able 
to  walk  and  run  about.  This  served  the  double  purpose  of  support  ing 
their  hacks  and  also  of  keeping  them  out  of  mischief. 

The  religion  of  the  Manhattan  and  their  neighbors  was  a  nature 
worship,  pure  and  simple.  They  believed  that  there  were  deities  who 
dwelt  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  compass,  that  the  sun  and  moon,  the 
thunder  and  the  winds  were  various  supernatural  beings.  That  these 
were  all  controlled  by  a  supreme  god  whom  they  called  "Kickeron," 
or  "  Kickerom,  "  was  their  conviction.  They  thought  that  the  earth  wag 
populated  by  the  descendants  of  a  woman  who  fell  from  the  sky  and  who 
would  have  been  lost  in  the  sea,  save  that  a  gigantic  tortoise  which  after- 
wards became  the  earth,  caught  her  on  his  back.  They  were  also  in  fear 
of  a  terrible  evil  power,  a  horned  snake,  to  whom  they  made  sacrifices 
by  burying  objects  in  the  ground  in  its  name. 

The  Manhattan  and  their  neighbors  also  believed  in  a  future  exist- 
ence, placing  their  Elysian  fields  in  the  southwestern  skies,  where  they 
believed  the  souls  of  their  dead  journeyed.  It  was  for  this  reason  that 
they  placed  food  and  implements  in  their  graves  with  the  bodies,  so  t  hat 
the  wandering  soul  might  lack  nothing  necessary  to  its  comfort  on  the 
tiip. 

The  religion  of  the  Indians  was  marked  by  periodic  ceremonies, 
one  of  which  has  come  down  to  the  present  day  among  the  modern  rem- 
nants of  the  Shinnecock  of  Long  Island  and  the  Mohegan  of  ( 'onnecticul . 
This  is  the  ''June  Meeting,"  which  was  formerly  a  ceremony  held  for  the 
green  corn.  The  Delaware  in  Oklahoma  and  Canada  still  perform  a 
number  of  other  annual  ceremonies. 

The  old  writers  tell  us  that  each  Indian  had  some  such  name  as 
"Buck's  Horn."  "Wildcat."  or  "  Rattlesnake,"  and  that  when  lie  died  it 
was  considered  sacrilegious  ever  to  mention  his  name  again.  It  is  also 
known  that  polygamy  was  practised  by  the  local  Indians. 

The  Archaeolouical  Exhibits. 

So  much  for  the  ethnology  of  the  Manhattan  and  their  neighbors. 
Let  us  now  turn  to  their  archaeology  as  set  forth  by  the  specimens  on 
view  in  the  entrance  of  the  Woodland  Hall. 

On  entering  the  Eastern  Woodland  Indian  Hall  the  visitor  will  find 
that  the  first  table  sections  are  devoted  to  an  exhibition,  as  comprehen- 
sive as  possible,  showing  the  life  of  the  natives  in  prehistoric  times  by 


FINCH'S  ROCK  HOUSE 


IXDIAXS  or  MANHATTAN  ISLAM) 


means  of  specimens  obtained  from  the  ancienl  village  ;m<l  camp  sites. 
Here  may  be  seen  remains  of  t  he  various  animals,  fish,  and  shell-fish  upon 
which  the  Indians  depended  for  subsistence;  fragments  of  nuts,  coin, 
loots,  and  other  food  products,  preserved  by  charring,  and  obtained  from 
ancient  fireplaces;  and  such  implements  as  arrow  points  of  antler  and 
stone,  net-sinkers  of  stone,  and  stone  hoes  for  tilling  the  field,  all  illusl  ra- 
tive  of  primitive  methods  of  hunting  and  agriculture.  Implements  ex- 
hibited in  the  same  case  show  the  preparation  of  animal  and  vegetable 
food  with  primitive  utensils,  while  close  by  are  tools  used  by  the  Indians 
in  preparing  skins.  The  manufactures  of  the  Indians  are  illustrated  in 
the  immediately  adjacent  section. 

A  progressive  series  of  implements  shows  the  making  of  an  arrow 
point  from  a  simple  quartz  pebble  such  as  might  be  picked  up  anywhere 
on  the  shore,  with  the  various  stages  leading  to  the  finished  point ;  the 
tools  employed  are  also  exhibited.  Implements  of  stone  for  pecking, 
grooving,  and  polishing;  hatchets  and  axes;  pottery  fragments,  and 
household  utensils,  such  as  hammers,  axes,  adzes,  and  gouges,  will  be 
found  at  hand. 

In  the  upright  cases  there  is  an  exhibit  from  Manhattan  Island, 
made  up  of  specimens  principally  collected  by  Messrs.  Alexander  C. 
Ohenoweth,  W.  L.  Calver,  and  R.  P.  Bolton,  in  the  rock-shelters  and 
village  sites  at  Inwood,  showing  as  fully  as  possible  the  life  of  the  pre- 
historic Manhattan  Indians. 


DIAGRAM  OF  A  TYPICAL  SHELL  DEPOSIT 


In  another  table  case  are  to  be  seen  implement*  and  remains  from 
the  shell-heaps  marking  a  long-forgotten  Indian  village  at  Shinnecock 
Hills,  Long  Island.  This  exhibit,  which  is  one  of  the  most  complete  of 
its  kind,  gives  a  rather  adequate  picture  of  the  ancient  life  i  >f  t  hese  people 
and  is  especially  valuable  for  the  number  and  variety  of  primitive  manu- 
factures shown.    One  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  sections  demon- 


14 


AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


strates,  by  means  of  a  series  of  specimens,  the  primitive  methods  of  cut- 
ting'bone  and  antler  employed  by  these  Indians.  Bone  was  cut  by  notch- 
ing or  grooving  it  with  a  stone  knife  or  flake,  and  then  breaking  it  at  the 
groove.  Antler  was  worked  in  the  same  way,  but  it  is  very  probable  that 
the  Indians  boiled  antler  in  order  to  make  it  more  pliable  and  easily  cut. 

From  the  appearance  of  pottery  fragments  now  to  be  found  on  the 
sites  of  the  ancient  Indian  villages  of  this  vicinity  and  the  methods  of 
modern  Indian  pottery  makers,  we  may  safely  conclude  that  most,  if 
not  all,  of  the  earthenware  manufactured  in  this  locality  was  made  b}^  the 
coil  process,  which  consisted  of  the  following  steps:  The  Indians  first 
secured  clay  of  a  suitable  quality,  which  was  mixed  with  pounded  shell  or 
stones  to  make  it  tougher  and  more  durable.  It  was  then  worked  into 
long  rolls,  and  the  Indians,  beginning  at  the  bottom,  worked  the  pot  up 
by  adding  coil  after  coil,  blending  or  smoothing  the  coils  with  a  smooth 
stone  until  they  did  not  show  from  either  the  interior  or  exterior  surface. 
When  the  pot  was  completed,  it  was  decorated  by  stamping  or  incising 
designs  about  the  exterior  of  the  rim. 


CROSS  SECTION  OF  A  SHELL  PIT 


The  upright  case  at  the  end  contains  an  exhibit  from  the  remnants  of 
the  Algonkin  and  Iroquois  Indians  of  New  York  State  and  New  England, 
while  a  map  showing  the  location  of  most  of  the  Indian  villages  of 
Greater  New  York  and  vicinity  and  an  actual  section  of  a  typical  shell- 
heap,  as  well  as  photographs  and  labels  describing  the  opening  and  exca- 


INDIANS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 


L5 


ration  of  the  sites,  are  near  at  hand.  Specimens  typical  of  those  found 
in  the  shell-heap  are  also  exhibited. 

Of  all  the  traces  left  by  the  aborigines  along  the  New  York  seacoast, 
the  most  abundant  and  familiar  are  the  shell-heaps.  These  are  bed-  of 
refuse  marking  the  sites  of  ancient  villages,  camps,  and  isolated  wigwams. 
Wherever  the  fresh  water  joins  the  salt,  especially  where  open  water  for 
fishing  and  a  spring  for  drinking  come  together  in  happy  combination, 
there  is  generally  to  be  found  some  such  evidence  of  Indian  occupation. 

The  typical  "shell-heap"  is  not  a  heap  at  all,  for  leaf  mold,  the  wash 
from  neighboring  high  ground, and  often  cultivation  have  generally  made 
it  level  with  its  surroundings  (page  14).  Very  often,  unless  the  land  be 
plowed,  no  shells  whatever  show  on  the  surface,  and  the  only  way  of  find- 
ing out  the  condition  of  things  below  the  sod  is  to  test  with  a  spade  or  a 
crowbar.  If  shells  are  present,  their  crunching  soon  gives  notice  of  the 
fact.  Sometimes  shell-heaps  have  been  located  by  shells  thrown  from 
animal  burrows,  or  washed  out  by  the  rain,  or  in  banks  broken  down  by 
the  surf.  Some  have  been  found  fronting  on  the  open  Sound,  but  such 
cases  are  rare.  These  deposits  consist  of  large  quantities  of  decayed 
oyster,  clam,  and  other  marine  shells  mixed  with  stained  earth,  with 
ashes,  charcoal,  and  fire-cracked  stones  to  mark  the  spots  where  ancient 
cam])  fires  blazed.  Among  the  shells  are  usually  scattered  antlers  of  deer, 
bones  of  animals,  fishes,  and  birds,  quantities  of  pottery  fragments,  and 
broken  implements;  in  short,  the  imperishable  part  of  the  camp  refuse 
left  by  the  Indians.  Now  and  then,  perfect  implements  and  ornaments 
that  had  been  carelessly  lost  in  the  rubbish  or  hidden  for  safe-keeping  are 
discovered. 

Shell-heaps  vary  from  a  few  inches  to  four  feet  in  depth,  and  in 
area  from  a  few  square  yards  to  several  acres — all  depending  on  the 
length  of  time  the  settlement  was  occupied  and  the  number  of  dwellings 
comprising  it.  Deep  shell-heaps  are  often  divided  into  layers,  the  lowest 
of  which  are,  of  course,  the  oldest.  Under  and  near  most  of  these  deposits 
may  be  found  scattered  "pits"  or  fire  holes,  which  are  bowl-shaped 
depressions  in  the  ground  filled  with  layers  of  stained  earth,  shells,  and 
other  refuse,  with  an  occasional  layer  of  ashes.  Some  pits  are  as  large 
as  ten  feet  wide  by  six  feet  deep,  but  the  average  is  four  feel  deep  by 
three  feet  wide.  It  is  supposed  that  they  were  used  as  ovens  or  steam- 
ing holes  and  afterwards  filled  up  with  refuse.  Some  contain  human 
skeletons,  which  may  have  been  interred  in  them  dining  the  winter  season 
when  grave  digging  was  impossible.  These  pits  generally  contain  more  of 
interest  than  the  ordinary  shell-heap.   The  closely  packed  regular  masses 


16  AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


of  shells  form  a  covering  which  tends  to  preserve  bone  implements, 
charred  corn,  and  such  perishable  articles  from  decay  in  a  way  that  the 
looser  shells  of  the  general  layers  fail  to  do. 

Shell-heaps,  while  abundant  along  the  seacoast,  are  seldom  found 
inland,  except  on  salt  creeks  or  other  streams  having  access  to  salt  water. 
They  may  be  seen  all  along  the  east  shore  of  the  Hudson  River  at  more 
or  less  frequent  intervals  as  far  up  as  Peekskill;  on  Croton  Point  and 
between  Nyack  and  Hook  Mountain  on  the  west  shore  they  attain  con- 
siderable size.    There  are  a  few  small  deposits,  however,  composed 


MAP  GIVING  THE  LOCATIONS  OF  SHELL  DEPOSITS 

Those  marked  +  have  been  explored  by  the  Museum 


mainly  of  fresh  water  clams  (Unio)  situated  on  fresh  water  lakes  in  the 
interior  of  Westchester  County.  There  are  many  shell-heaps  on  Staten 
Island.  Shell-heaps  occur  or  did  occur  on  Constable  Hook,  New  Jersey, 
and  at  intervals  between  there  and  Jersey  City  along  the  western  shore 
of  New  York  Bay.  The  accompanying  map  gives  the  location  of  the 
important  known  shell  deposits  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York  City. 


INDIANS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 


17 


Besides  the  shell-heaps,  the  ancient  cemeteries  of  the  Indian-  hold 
much  of  interest  to  the  archaeologist. 

Although  most  of  the  natives  in  the  vicinity  of  Greater  New  York 
did  not  place  objects  in  t  he  graves  with  t  heir  dead,  some  graves  at  Burial 
Ridge,  Tottenville,  Staten  Island,  when  opened  for  the  Museum  in 
189."),  were  found  to  contain  a  great  many  interesting  and  valuable  re- 
mains. With  the  skeleton  of  a  child  t  here  was  a  great  deposit  of  utensils, 
both  finished  and  unfinished  ornaments,  such  as  heads,  pendants,  and 


INDIAN  SKELETONS  PIERCED  BY  ARROW  POINTS    TOTTENVILLE.  STATEN  ISLAND 


the  like,  a  stone  pipe,  and  a  number  of  other  objects,  while  not  faraway 
the  skeletons  of  three  Indian  warriors  were  exhumed,  in  and  among 
whose  hones  there  were  found,  as  shown  in  the  cases  devoted  to  the 
archaeology  of  Staten  Island,  twenty-three  arrow  points  of  stone,  antler, 
and  hone. 


BONES  PUNCTURED  BY  ARROW  POINTS,  FROM  SKELETONS 
FOUND  ON  STATEN  ISLAND 


IXDIAXS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 


19 


This  is  an  exhibit  which  excellently  indicates  the  use  of  the  bow  in 
Indian  warfare.  In  the  first  skeleton,  it  was  found  thai  two  arrow 
points  of  antler  and  one  of  bone  had  pierced  the  body  and  Lodged  near 
the  spinal  column.  Another  point  of  argillite  had  been  driven  between 
two  ribs,  cutting  a  notch  in  each.  A  bone  arrow  point  had  struck  the 
shoulder  and  was  resting  againsl  the  scapula.  Among  the  bones  of  the 
right  hand,  an  arrow  point  of  antler  was  discovered,  and  there  was  a 
similar  one  Dear  the  left  hand.  Another  antler  point  was  lying  in  the 
sand  just  beneath  the  body  and  had,  no  doubt ,  dropped  from  it  when  1  he 
Mesh  wasted  away.  The  most  interesting  wound  of  all  was  one  where  an 
antler-tipped  arrow  had  plowed  through  one  side  of  the  body  and  fully 
one-third  of  the  point  had  passed  through  one  of  the  ribs,  making  a  hole, 
in  which  it  remained.  The  second  warrior  was  also  terribly  injured. 
The  left  femur  showed  an  elongated  puncture  near  the  lower  end.  prob- 
ably made  by  an  arrow  point.  Among  the  ribs  was  the1  tip  of  an  antler 
point,  and  another  of  yellow  jasper  was  among  the  ribs  on  the  left  side 
of  the  body.  Three  other  points  were  among  the  bones.  The  third 
skeleton  was  likewise  an  example  of  old-time  bow  play.  There  was  an 
antler  point  among  the  ribs  on  the  left  side.  The  end  of  one  of  the 
fibulae  was  shattered  by  a  stone  arrow-head,  and  a  second  point  had 
lodged  bet  ween  two  ribs.  Beneath  the  sternum  was  a  flint  point,  and  the 
right  shoulder  blade1  showed  a  fracture  near  the  end.  caused  by  a  blow 
of  some  hand  implement  or  an  arrow.  Near  the  base  of  the  skull,  the 
end  of  an  antler  arrow-head  was  discovered,  broken  perhaps  by  its  im- 
pact with  the  occiput.  Two  bone  points  were  near  the  lower  bones  of  the 
left  leg.  A  second  point  was  found  upon  search  among  the  left  ribs; 
under  the  vertebrae  was  the  base  of  another  antler  point,  and  two  broken 
points  were  found  beneath  the  body. 

The  positions  in  which  several  of  the  points  were  found  certainly 
speak  well  for  the  great  force  which  propelled  them.  The  long  how-  of 
the  local  Indians  must  indeed  have  been  formidable  weapons.  Taking 
into  consideration  the  number  of  arrows  which  must  have  been  imbedded 
in  the  bodies  of  the  warriors,  it  is  perhaps  probable  that  the  majority 
of  the  projectiles  were  driven  into  the  victims  at  close  range  after  death. 

In  a  small  square  case  will  be  found  the  model  of  a  rock-shelter  and 
typical  objects  found  in  such  places.  These  rock-shelters,  as  the  name 
implies,  are  protected  spots  in  rocky  ledges,  which  Indians  once  made 
more  or  less  permanent  places  of  abode.  Many  such  shelters  exist  in  the 
vicinity  of  New  York,  two  or  more  having  been  discovered  at  [nwood, 
Manhattan.    The  most  important  rock-shelter  so  far  discovered  is  the 


20  AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


so-called  Finch  Rock  House  reproduced  in  a  model.  The  original  is  neai 
Armonk,  Westchester  County,  New  York.  One  point  of  special  interest 
is  the  fact  that  the  Finch  shelter  contained  two  layers  bearing  relics 
separated  by  sand  as  shown  in  the  drawing.  As  no  pottery  was  found  in 
the  bottom  layer,  it  has  been  inferred  that  we  have  here  the  remains  of 
two  different  races  of  Indians,  the  older  not  yet  advanced  to  the  pottery- 
making  stage.  This  conclusion,  is,  however,  far  from  final,  for  the  whole 
arrangement  may  be  due  to  accident. 

In  the  table  cases  opposite  those  devoted  to  the  Algonkin  some  sec- 
tions are  used  to  show  the  life  history  of  the  Iroquois  tribes  of  western 
New  York,  and  the  following  section  shows,  as  well  as  possible,  the  cul- 
ture of  the  Five  Nations  and  objects  used  by  the  Indians  of  New  York 
State  obtained  from  European  traders  after  the  advent  of  the  settlers. 

With  the  Iroquois  exhibit  is  a  special  exhibit  showing  typical  wam- 
pum beads, '  belts,  and  implements  illustrating  the  prehistoric  manu- 
facture of  wampum  on  Long  Island. 


VERTICAL  SECTION  OF  REFUSE  IN  FINCH'S  ROCK  HOUSE, 
ABOUT  MIDWAY  OF  THE  CAVE 


TYPES  OF  INDIAN  RELICS  FOUND  IN  AND  ABOUT 
NEW  YORK  CITY 

HAVING  now  taken  a  general  view  of  the  exhibit,  the  visitor  may 
be  interested  in  a  study  of  the  several  kinds  of  relics  found  in  this 
locality.  As  these  types  are  somewhat  unlike  those  found  in 
near-by  regions,  we  conclude  that  the  Indians  formerly  living  here  had 
habits  and  customs  different  from  those  of  their  neighbors.  For  want  of 
a  better  name,  these  long-extinct  tribes  have  been  called  collectively 
the  New  York  Coastal  Algonkin.    The  term  Algonkin  designates  the 


TYPES  OF  ARROW  POINTS 


22 


AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


language  they  spoke,  while  the  adjectives  define  their  habitat.  Under 
the  designation  New  York  Coastal  Algonkin,  the  writer  includes  the 
tribes  along  the  coast  from  Tottenville,  Staten  Island,  the  extreme 
southern  point  of  the  state,  to  the  Connecticut  boundary  on  Long 
Island  Sound,  including  to  a  certain  extent  the  shores  of  New  Jersey 
immediately  adjacent  to  Staten  and  Manhattan  Islands,  the  east  bank 
of  the  Hudson  River  as  far  north  as  Yonkers,  and  the  western  end 
of  Long  Island. 

From  the  examination  of  the  remains  of  the  New  York  Coastal 
Algonkin  area  preserved  in  many  collections,  both  public  and  private, 
it  becomes  obvious  that  the  objects  found  may  be  roughly  divided  into 
three  groups :  articles  of  stone,  articles  of  bone  and  antler,  and  articles  of 
clay,  shell,  and  metal.  The  first  group  is,  from  the  imperishable  nature 
of  its  representatives,  naturally  the  largest  and  comprises  a  number  of 
sub-groups  to  be  briefly  described  and  commented  upon  in  this  paper. 
Examples  of  this  type  will  be  found  in  the  table  cases  previously  men- 
tioned. For  the  following  descriptions  and  historical  notes  the  author 
has  largely  drawn  on  Mr.  James  K.  Finch's  and  his  own  contributions 
to  Volume  III  of  the  "  Anthropological  Papers  of  the  American  Museum 
of  Natural  History"  (New  York,  1909). 

('hipped  Articles. 

Arrow  Points.  Two  general  types  of  arrow  points  may  be  recognized: 
these  are  the  stemmed,  or  notched,  and  the  triangular  forms.  The  former 
are  by  far  the  most  abundant,  and  while  these  are  usually  made  of  the 
nearest  local  rock  possessing  the  necessary  conchoidal  fracture,  in  some 
cases  they  are  of  material  brought  from  a  long  distance.  Specimens 
made  of  pink  flint  resembling  stone  from  the  Flint  Ridge  of  Ohio,  and 
of  jasper  found  to  the  south  of  this  region,  have  been  recorded.  Blunt 
arrow  points  are  rare,  the  Indians  probably  preferring  wooden  arrows 
for  this  type.  Many  of  the  so-called  "blunt  points"  found  in  collections 
appear  to  be  scrapers  made  over  from  broken  arrow  points  of  a  large  size. 

The  triangular  type  has  long  been  regarded  by  the  local  collectors  of 
this  vicinity  as  being  the  type  used  in  war,  the  argument  being  that  as  it 
has  no  stem,  it  was  necessarily  but  loosely  fastened  in  its  shaft  and,  if 
shot  into  the  body,  would  be  very  liable  to  become  detached  and  re- 
main in  the  flesh  if  any  attempt  were  made  to  withdraw  it  by  tugging  at 
the  shaft.  While  it  was  no  doubt  perfectly  possible  to  fasten  a  point  of 
triangular  shape  to  the  shaft  as  firmly  as  a  notched  point,  the  discoveries 
of  Mr.  George  H.  Pepper  at  Tottenville,  Staten  Island,  where  twenty- 
three  arrow  points  were  found  in  and  among  the  bones  of  three  Indian 


KNIVES  AND  SCRAPERS 


24  AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


skeletons,  tend  to  strengthen  this  theory.  While  the  majority  of  points 
found  there  were  of  bone  or  antler,  all  those  made  of  stone  were  of  this 
type;  indeed,  most  of  the  bone  points  were  also  triangular  in  shape. 
However,  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  arrow  points  of  triangular  type 
were  used  for  every  purpose  by  all  the  early  Iroquois  tribes  of  New  York. 

Spear  Points  and  Knives.  None  of  the  early  accounts  of  con- 
temporary European  writers  seem  to  mention  the  use  of  spears  (other 
than  bone  or  antler-headed  harpoons)  by  the  Indians  hereabouts,  and 
it  is  probable  that  the  larger  arrow-point-like  forms  found  were  used  as 
knives  or  cutting  tools.  They  are  usually  notched  or  stemmed,  rarely 
triangular,  and  occasionally  round  or  oval.  They  vary  in  size,  but  it 
must  be  remembered  that  one  tool  may  have  had  various  uses,  and  that 
drills,  knives,  and  scrapers  may  often  have  been  combined  in  one  imple- 
ment. 

Scrapers.  Scrapers  were  probably  used  in  dressing  skins,  in  sharp- 
ening bone  implements,  wood-working,  and  for  various  other  purposes. 
These  are  usually  mere  flint  flakes  chipped  to  an  edge  on  one  side. 
Nevertheless,  notched  and  stemmed  forms  requiring  some  care  in  their 
making  do  occur.  Broken  arrow  points  were  occasionally  chipped  down 
to  serve  this  purpose.  A  single  serrated  scraper  has  been  found.  These 
are  very  rare  in  both  the  Algonkian  and  Iroquoian  areas  of  New  England 
and  the  Middle  Atlantic  States.  One  very  large  stemmed  scraper,  of  a 
type  more  common  in  the  far  west,  also  comes  from  this  locality. 

Drills.  These  are  usually  chipped  tools  presenting  an  elongated 
narrow  blade  and  a  considerably  swollen  or  expanded  base,  suitable  for 
grasping  in  the  hand.  In  some  cases  the  base  was  absent  and  those  were 
probably  hafted  in  wood.  Specimens  whose  blades  have  a  square  or 
rectangular  cross-section  are  very  rare.  The  finding  of  cores  left  in 
half-drilled  objects  shows  the  use  of  a  hollow  drill,  and  it  has  been  sug- 
gested that  a  hard  hollow  reed  used  with  sand  and  water  on  a  soft  stone 
would  produce  this  effect.  To  bear  out  this  assertion,  it  has  been  re- 
ported that  a  half-drilled  implement  has  been  found  outside  this  area  on 
the  upper  Hudson  in  which  the  remains  of  the  reed  drill  were  found  in  the 
cavity  left  by  its  action. 

Rough  Stone  Articles. 

Hammer  stones.  These  vary  from  simple  pebbles  picked  up  and 
used  in  the  rough,  showing  merely  a  battered  edge  or  edges  acquired  by 
use,  to  the  pitted  forms.  They  are  generally  mere  pebbles  with  a  pit 
pecked  on  two  opposite  sides,  perhaps  to  aid  in  grasping  with  the  thumb 


DRILLS.  SCRAPERS  AND  OTHER  OBJECTS 


26  AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


and  forefinger.  Some  have  battered  edges,  but  many  have  not,  suggest- 
ing, when  round  and  regular,  a  use  as  gaming  or  "  Chunke"  stones,  or  as 
implements  used  only  in  pounding  some  rather  soft  substance.  Hammer- 
stones,  pitted  on  one  side  only,  and  others  with  many  pits  on  all  sides, 
occur.  These  latter  may  have  had  some  special  use,  and  are  not  to  be 
confounded  with  the  large,  flat,  slab-like  stones  having  pits  only  on  one 
side,  found  in  other  regions,  and  perhaps  used  as  receptacles  for  holding 
nuts  while  cracking  them.  While  these  are  common  in  the  Iroquoian 
area,  they  are  unknown  here. 

Large  stones,  single  or  double-pitted,  resembling  over-sized  hammer- 
stones,  occur.  These  may  have  been  used  as  anvils  in  chipping  flint  or  for 
like  purposes. 

Grooved  clubs  or  mauls,  also  showing  use  as  hammers,  are  found. 
These  are  rare  and  are  usually  either  rough  pebbles,  grooved  for  hafting, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  grooved  axe,  or  grooved  axes,  the  blades  of  which 
have  become  so  battered,  broken,  and  rounded  by  wear  as  to  preclude 
their  further  use  for  chopping. 

Net-Sinkers.  On  all  sites  near  the  water,  either  salt  or  fresh,  net- 
sinkers  show  the  prevalence  of  fishing.  These  are  of  two  types.  In  one 
case  a  pebble  is  notched  on  opposite  sides  of  either  the  long  or  broad  axis; 
in  the  other,  a  groove  is  pecked  around  the  entire  pebble  in  the  same 
manner.  The  latter  type  is  comparatively  scarce,  as  the  former,  being- 
more  easily  and  quickly  made,  was  just  as  useful  to  the  savage.  The 
modern  Cree  and  Ojibway,  residing  in  the  forests  north  of  the  Great 
Lakes,  still  use  pebbles  for  this  purpose,  but  those  observed  by  the  writer 
were  not  notched  or  worked  in  any  way.  Occasionally,  sinkers  notched 
on  both  axes  are  found  in  this  region. 

Hoes.  These  are  usually  ovoid  implements,  chipped  from  trap 
rock,  sometimes  notched  to  facilitate  hafting,  and  sometimes  not.  They 
usually  show  a  slight  polish  on  the  blade,  caused  by  friction  with  the 
ground.  This  type  of  stone  hoe  is  the  form  mentioned  by  early  writers; 
but  perhaps  hoes  of  shell,  bone,  or  tortoise  shell,  and  wood  were  used 
also.  None  of  these,  however,  are  still  in  existence. 

Hand  Choppers.  Pebbles  chipped  to  an  edge  on  one  side,  for  use 
as  hand  choppers,  occur.   These  are  occasionally  pitted  on  both  sides. 

Grooved  Axes.  For  the  purposes  of  this  paper,  the  writer,  while 
aware  that  many  grooved  axes  are  well  made  and  polished,  has  decided 
to  include  them  under  the  head  of  "  Rough  Stone  Articles,"  as  by  far  the 
greater  majority  of  the  grooved  axes  and  celts  from  this  region  lack  the 
polish  and  finish  belonging  to  other  articles  later  to  be  described. 


TYPES  OF  STONE  AXES  AND  CELTS 


28 


AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


Grooved  axes  are  of  two  sorts:  a,  those  made  of  simple  pebbles,  merely 
modified  by  grooving  and  chipping  or  pecking  an  edge;  and  b,  axes 
which  have  been  pecked  and  worked  all  over  and  sometimes  polished. 
The  latter  (6)  may  be  said  to  include : 

1.  Groove  encircling  three  sides  of  blade,  one  side  flat. 

2.  Ridged  groove  encircling  three  sides  of  blade,  one  side  flat. 

3.  Groove  encircling  three  sides  of  blade,  longitudinal  groove  on 
flat  side. 

4.  Groove  encircling  three  sides  of  blade,  longitudinal  groove  on 
flat  side  and  opposite. 


HAFTED  CELT  FROM  A  POND  AT  THORNDALE,  DUTCHESS,  CO.,  N.  Y. 


Length  of  celt  16.G  cm. 

5.  Groove  encircling  blade. 

6.  Ridged  groove  encircling  blade. 

A  seventh  type,  having  a  double  groove  encircling  the  blade,  ma3r 
occur  in  this  territory,  but  has  never  been  reported.  A  specimen  from 
the  Hudson  River  region,  just  north  of  the  area  here  dwelt  upon,  is  in 
the  Henry  Booth  Collection  in  this  Museum.   While  most  worked  stone 


INDIANS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 


axes  have  been  pecked  into  shape,  a  few  have  been  fashioned  by  chipping, 
but  these  seem  to  be  rare. 

Grooved  axes  were  hafted  in  various  ways.  During  the  summer  of 
1908,  the  Eastern  Cree  living  in  the  vicinity  of  the  southern  end  of 
Hudson  Bay  told  the  writer  that  their  ancestors,  who  made  and  used 
such  axes,  hafted  them  by  splitting  a  stick  and  setting  the  blade  in  it, 
then  binding  the  handle  together  with  deerskin  (probably  rawhide) 
above  and  below  the  split.  No  specimens  of  the  grooved  axe  in  the 
original  haft  seem  now  to  be  extant  from  any  locality  in  the  Kast.  From 
the-  battered  appearance  of  the  butts  of  these  axes,  it  may  have  been  thai 
they  were  sometimes  used  in  lieu  of  mauls  or  hammers.  It  is  possible 
that  they  may  have  been  used  in  war.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  in 
cutting  down  trees,  making  dug-out  canoes,  and  other  kinds  of  wood- 
working, fire  was  used  as  an  adjunct  to  the  stone  axe,  the  former  being 
the  active  agent.  The  process  of  burning  and  charring  having  gone  on 
sufficiently,  the  stone  axe  was  used  to  remove  the  burned  portion.  How- 
ever, some  stone  axes  seem  sharp  enough  to  cut  quite  well  without  the 
aid  of  fire. 

Celts.  Ungrooved  axes  or  hatchets,  usually  called  celts,  are  fre- 
quent throughout  this  area:  but  are  nowhere  as  abundant  as  the  grooved 
axe.  especially  near  the  southern  border  of  the  region.  The  grooved  axe 
seems  to  have  been  the  typical  cutting  and  chopping  tool  of  the  local 
Algonkin.  The  widespread  idea  that  the  celt  was  sometimes  used  1111- 
hafted  as  a  skinning  tool,  has  no  historic  proof,  but  may  possibly  have 
some  foundation.  The  Cree  of  the  southern  Hudson  Bay  region  use  an 
edged  tool  of  bone  for  this  purpose,  a  fact  which  is  somewhat  suggestive, 
although  the  implement  differs  in  shape  from  the  celt.  Celts  with  one 
side  flat  and  the  other  beveled  to  an  edge  may  have  been  used  as  adzes. 
From  the  worn  and  hammered  appearance  of  the  polls  of  some  celts,  it  is 
possible  that  many  of  these  implements  were  used  as  wedges  in  splitting 
wood,  after  constant  manipulation  in  their  chopping  capacity  had  per- 
manently dulled  their  edges. 

The  celts  of  this  region  are.  as  a  general  thing,  poorly  made,  a  pebble 
of  suitable  shape  having  an  edge  ground  on  it  with  little  or  no  preliminary 
shaping.  More  rarely,  however,  they  were  carefully  worked  all  over  by 
pecking  and  polishing,  as  in  the  case  of  the  grooved  axe. 

In  type,  aside  from  the  general  division  of  rough  and  worked  celts, 
we  may  acid  t  hat  most  celts  in  this  region  have  slight  ly  rounded  polls,  the 
bit  broader  than  the  butt,  although  some  exceptions  have  been  found. 
The  forms  are  as  follows:  a,  rough  stone  celts,  pebbles  with  one  end 


30 


AM  ERIC  AX  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


ground  to  an  edge,  but  otherwise  scarcely  worked;  and,  b,  worked  stone 
celts,  which  include  the  following: 

L  Wedge-shaped,  poll  narrower  than  bit,  and  angles  rounded. 
Common. 

2.  Like  number  one,  but  with  bit  much  broader  than  poll.  Cross- 
section  oval.  Very  rare. 

3.  Like  number  one,  but  one  side  flat,  other  beveled  at  one  end  to 
make  a  cutting  edge. 

4.  Like  number  two,  but  with  cutting  edge  flaring,  broader  than 
body.   "  Bell-mouthed  type."  Very  rare. 

North  and  west  of  this  region  we  find  the  Iroquois  territory,  where 
most  worked  celts  are  angular,  having  almost  invariably  a  rectangular 
cross-section  and  squared  butt.  Types  1  and  3  also  occur,  but  the  celt 
with  the  rectangular  cross-section  seems  most  typical  of  the  Iroquoian 
region.  Many  small  celts,  made  of  flat  fragments  or  chips  of  stone,  are 
also  found  in  this  area,  and  these  could  scarcely  have  had  a  use  as  chop- 
ping tools. 

In  the  Niagara  watershed  and  extending  eastward  as  far  as  the 
Genesee  Valley,  an  angular  adze-like  form  having  a  trapezoidal  cross- 
section  occurs.  It  is  found  principally  in  what  was  the  territory  of  the 
Attiwandaronk,  Kah-Kwah,  or  Neutral  Nation  (an  Iroquoian  tribe, 
early  annihilated  by  the  Five  Nations).  It  also  occurs,  as  has  been 
stated,  on  the  sites  of  villages  of  the  Iroquois  proper,  but  is  not  abundant. 
South  of  the  Iroquois  in  Central  Pennsylvania,  another  form  which  does 
not  occur  in  this  region  is  the  chipped  celt,  usually  of  flint  or  other  hard 
stone.  This  form  is,  however,  frequent  in  the  country  about  the  head- 
waters of  the  Delaware. 

In  the  " American  Anthropologist,"  Vol.  9,  No.  2,  p.  296  et  seq., 
Mr.  C.  C.  Willoughby  has  figured  and  described  the  celts  of  the  New 
England  region  with  remarks  on  the  methods  of  hafting  employed. 
These  seem  to  be  two  in  number,  and  consist,  in  the  case  of  the  larger 
forms,  of  setting  the  blade  through  a  hole  in  the  end  of  a  club-like  handle, 
the  butt  or  poll  projecting  on  one  side  and  the  blade  on  the  other  as  in  one 
which  was  found  in  the  muck  of  a  pond  bottom  at  Thorndale,  Dutchess 
County,  New  York,  a  region  once  in  the  Mahikan  territory.  Smaller  celts 
were  set  into  a  club-like  handle,  the  butt  resting  in  a  hole  or  socket. 

Adzes.  These  seem  to  be  of  two  kinds,  the  first  and  most  simple 
being  celt-like,  but  flat  on  one  side,  the  other  side  being  beveled  to  an 
edge  on  one  side.  The  second  form  differs  in  having  a  groove,  which  is 
not  infrequently  ridged.    Occasionally,  adzes  with  two  parallel  grooves 


BANNER  STONES    GORGETS.  AND  AMULETS 


32 


AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


occur.  They  were  probably  hafted  by  taking  a  stick  at  one  end  of  which 
projected  a  short  arm  at  right  angles  with  the  shaft,  laying  the  flat  side 
of  the  blade  against  this  arm  and  binding  it  on  with  sinew,  thongs,  or 
withes.  The  groove,  of  course,  was  of  aid  in  securing  the  blade  to  the 
handle.  Adzes  of  stone,  hafted  in  this  manner,  have  been  obtained  on 
the  North  Pacific  Coast.  The  celt  adze  seems  not  uncommon,  but  the 
grooved  adze  is  rare,  neither  form  being  nearly  so  abundant  as  in  the  New 
England  region. 

Gouges.  The  stone  gouge  is  rare,  and  seems  always  to  be  a  plain, 
single-bladed  affair  without  the  transverse  grooves  so  frequently  seen 
in  New  England  specimens,  and  hereabouts  is  always  easily  distinguished 
from  the  adze.  Less  than  half  a  dozen  specimens  have  been  seen  by  the 
writer  from  this  entire  area,  although  probably  quite  as  much  work  in 
wood  was  done  by  the  New  York  Coastal  Algonkin  as  by  the  New  Eng- 
land Indians. 

Pestles.  The  long  pestle  occurs  throughout  the  region  of  the  Coastal 
Algonkin  of  New  York,  but  is  nowhere  as  abundant  as  in  New  England. 
They  seem  always  to  have  been  used  with  the  wooden  block  mortar 
hereabouts,  and  are  mentioned  by  the  early  writers  as  part  of  the  house- 
hold equipment  of  the  natives.  They  do  not  seem  to  have  been  used  by 
the  Iroquois  to  the  north  and  west  of  this  area  either  in  early  or  later 
times.  The  wooden  pestle  of  dumb-bell  shape  seems  to  have  been  pre- 
ferred by  them.  The  latter  is  used  by  the  Canadian  Delaware  and  may 
have  taken  the  place  of  the  long  stone  pestle  to  a  great  extent  in  this 
region. 

Mutters,  Grinders,  and  Polishing  Stones.  These  are  frequent,  and 
consist  merely  of  rounded  pebbles,  shaped  and  worn  by  use,  probably 
most  often  in  crushing  corn.  They  are  mentioned  by  De  Yries  as  being- 
used  by  the  Indians  with  a  flat  stone  slab  for  grinding  corn  when  travel- 
ing. Some  seem  to  have  been  used  for  polishing  stone  implements,  but 
it  seems  hard  to  draw  the  line,  as  the  appearance  gained  from  friction 
would  be  quite  similar.  Such  mullers  and  their  attendant  slabs,  used  for 
preparing  corn  meal  have  within  a  few  years  been  collected  in  use  among 
the  Oneida  Iroquois  of  New  York,  one  specimen  being  in  the  American 
Museum  collection. 

Sinew  Stones.  These  are  pebbles  showing  grooves  along  the  edges, 
popularly  supposed  to  have  been  worn  there  by  rubbing  thongs  and 
sinews  across  the  edges  to  shape  them.  They  occur  generally,  but  are 
not  common. 


INDIANS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 


33 


Stone  Mortars.  These  are  common,  but  rather  local,  some  sites 
having  none  at  all,  and  others  a  good  many.  One  locality  on  Staten 
Island  is  notable  for  the  numbers  found  there,  whereas  they  are  rare 
elsewhere  in  that  vicinity.  They  may  be  divided  into  t  he  following  types: 

1.  Portable  mortar,  hole  on  one  side. 

2.  Portable  mortar,  hole  on  both  sides  (New  Jersey  type 

3.  Portable  slab  mortal"  or  metate,  used  on  one  or  both  sides. 

4.  Boulder  mortar,  one  or  more  holes,  immovable. 

The  first  two  types  are  the  most  abundant,  the  third  is  not  uncommon, 
but  the  fourth  is  very  rare,  only  one  or  two  being  reported.  As  above 
stated,  De  Vries  claims  that  the  portable  mortars  were  used  in  bread- 
making  while  the  Indians  were  traveling,  but  certainly  the  majority  of 
those  found  are  far  too  heavy  for  this  purpose. 

Pigments  and  Paint  Cups.  Fragments  of  pigments  such  as  graphite 
and  limonite,  showing  the  marks  of  scratching  with  scrapers,  are  found, 
which  have  apparently  supplied  the  material  for  painting.  Worked 
geodes  are  common  on  many  sites.  These  show  traces  of  chipping  in  some 
instances  and  may  have  been  paint  cups.  There  is  a  tiny  pestle-shaped 
pebble  in  the  Museum  collection  from  Westchester  (  ounty,  which  is  said 
to  have  been  found  with  a  geode  of  this  type.  The  popular  theory  is  that 
such  geodes  were  used  as  " paint  cups"  and  this  seems  probable. 

Stone  Plummets.  These  are  very  rare,  in  contrast  to  their  abun- 
dance in  the  New  England  region.  They  consist  usually  of  small  worked 
egg-shaped  stones,  grooved  at  one  end,  probably  for  suspension.  The 
writer  has  seen  but  one  from  this  area.   Their  use  is  problematic. 

Semilunar  Knives.  Knives  of  rubbed  slate,  similar  in  appearance 
to  the  ulu,  or  woman's  knife  of  the  Eskimo,  are  found,  though  rarely,  in 
this  region.  While  sometimes  ascribed  to  Eskimo  influence  or  contact, 
it  is  possible  that  this  form  (which  occurs  throughout  New  England), 
judging  by  its  distribution,  may  have  been  native  to  the  Eastern  Algon- 
kin  also.  The  Eastern  Cree  still  use  knives  of  this  type  as  scrapers. 
Like  most  other  forms  common  in  Xew  England,  it  is  less  abundant  in  the 
southern  part  of  this  area. 

Stone  Beads.  Various  pebbles  generally  perforated  naturally  are  to 
be  found  on  some  sites,  and  may  or  may  not  have  been  used  as  beads  or 
pendants.  On  Staten  Island,  at  Watchogue,  Mr.  Isaiah  Merrill  once 
owned  a  number  of  square  beads  of  pinkish  steatite  (?),  all  but  one  of 
which  have  been  lost,  and  which  he  claims  were  found  on  his  farm. 


34 


AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


Gorgets.  Two  types  of  the  gorget  occur.  These  are  the  single-holed 
pendant  form,  which  is  the  less  abundant  of  the  two,  and  the  double-holed 
type.  The  latter  is  flat,  rectangular  in  shape,  and  generally  well  polished. 
It  usually  has  two  perforations  a  short  distance  from  the  middle.  The 
modern  Lenape  of  Canada  claim  to  have  used  these  as  hair  ornaments. 
Probably  the  two-holed  variety  is  typical  of  the  Algonkian  peoples  of 
this  region;  the  single-holed  form,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  most  abun- 
dant on  old  Iroquoian  sites.  Specimens  of  the  latter  have  been  obtained 
in  use  among  the  Canadian  Iroquois,  and  some  of  them  are  in  the  Mu- 
seum collections. 

Amulets.  Certain  problematic  articles  of  the  "  bar  "  and  even  "  bird 
amulet"  type  have  been  found,  but  these  are  probably  exotic  in  origin 
and  are  not  characteristic  of  the  archaeology  of  the  region  in  question. 

Banner  Stones.  These  beautiful  polished  stone  implements  of  un- 
known use  may  be  divided  into  three  great  classes,  with  several  sub- 
types as  follows: 

1.  Notched  banner  stones. 

2.  Grooved  banner  stones. 

a.  Groove  on  both  sides. 

b.  Groove  on  one  side. 

3.  Perforated  banner  stones. 

a.  Plain. 

b.  Butterfly. 

All  three  types  seem  equally  abundant,  but  the  notched  banner 
stones  appear  to  be  the  oldest  form  and  occur  under  circumstances 
pointing  to  great  relative  antiquity.  They  are  found,  however,  on  the 
more  recent  sites  as  well.  Both  the  notched  and  the  grooved  banner 
stones  are  usually  more  rough  in  appearance  than  the  perforated  type, 
and  the  writer  has  never  seen  a  polished  specimen  of  the  first  class.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  grooved  variety  frequently  exhibits  the  high  degree 
of  finish  characteristic  of  the  perforated  forms.  Banner  stones  grooved 
only  on  one  side  are  less  common  than  the  other  forms.  While  the  latter 
class  is  generally  made  of  slate,  steatite,  or  some  similar  soft  and  easily 
worked  material,  the  notched  and  grooved  forms,  especially  the  former, 
are  often  formed  either  from  naturally-shaped  pebbles  or  chipped  roughly 
into  shape.  Implements,  usually  naturally-shaped  stones  with  little 
working,  without  notches,  grooves,  or  perforations  but  greatly  resembling 
the  notched  and  grooved  banner  stones  in  shape,  are  not  infrequently 
found  on  aboriginal  sites  hereabouts  and  may  have  served  as  banner 


IXDIAXS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISL.  WD  35 


stones.  There  seem  to  be  neither  records  nor  plausible  theories  as  to 
their  use. 

Pipes.  Stone  pipes,  invariably  made  of  steatite,  are  very  rare. 
Four  types  have  been  noted  as  follows: 

1.  Monitor  or  platform  pipe,  platform  not  projecting  before  the 
howl. 

2.  Monitor  or  platform  pipe,  platform  projecting  before  bowl, 
with  or  without  tiny  carved  stem  or  mouthpiece.  Of  the  latter,  one 
specimen  is  known. 

3.  Trumpet-shaped  stone  pipe. 

4.  Rectangular  stone  pipe,  human  face  carved  on  front  of  howl. 

It  may  be  remarked  that  more  stone  pipes  have  been  reported  from 
the  Indian  cemetery  at  Burial  Ridge,  Tottenville,  Staten  Island,  than 
from  all  the  rest  of  the  area  put  together.  The  second  and  third  types 
are  represented  by  one  specimen  each  from  Burial  Ridge  and  from  no- 
where else  in  this  region.  Four  or  five  pipes  of  the  first  class  have  been 
found  there  as  well.  The  last  class  is  represented  by  a  single  specimen 
obtained  by  Mr.  W.  L.  Calver  at  Inwood,  Manhattan  Island.  I'n- 
doubtedly  the  clay  pipe  was  the  most  common  form  used  in  this  locality. 

Steatite  Vessels.  These  are  not  at  all  abundant,  though  occurring 
almost  everywhere.  They  were  doubtless  all  imported  from  New  lam- 
land,  as  there  are  no  steatite  quarries  within  the  range  of  the  New  York 
Coastal  Algonkin.  The  single  form  found  is  that  common  in  the  East, 
an  oblong,  fairly  deep  vessel  with  a  lug,  ear,  or  handle  at  each  end. 
Occasionally,  such  vessels  are  ornamented  by  rude  incisions  along  the 
rim. 

Articles  of  Clay. 

Pottery  Pipes  are  common  everywhere.  They  are  usually  manufac- 
tured of  a  better  quality  of  clay  than  that  used  for  vessels,  and  bear  fairly 
similar  designs.  They  are  susceptible  of  division  into  the  following 
classes : 

1.  Straight  tubular  form,  bowl  expanding  slightly. 

2.  Bowl  much  Larger  than  stem,  leaving  it  at  an  angle  of  forty- 
five  degrees.   Stem  round. 

3.  Same  as  number  2.  but  stem  angular  and  much  flattened. 

4.  Effigy  pipes  (represented  by  a  human  head  apparently  broken 
from  a  pipe  bowl,  obtained  by  Mr.  M.  R.  Harrington  :it  Port 
Washington.  Long  Island). 


36 


AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


The  straight  pipe  seems  to  have  been  obtained  only  on  Staten  Island, 
on  the  north  shore,  in  the  region  occupied  by  the  Hackensack.  While  no- 
where as  abundant  as  upon  the  Iroquoian  sites  of  central  and  western 
New  York,  the  clay  pipe  is  rather  common  and  is  a  prominent  feature  in 
the  coast  culture  of  New  York.  It  is  more  abundant  perhaps  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  area,  but  this  may  well  be  due  to  the  fact  that  data 
from  this  region  are  more  easily  accessible.  The  triangular-stemmed 
"trumpet"  pipe  so  common  on  the  Iroquoian  sites  is  unknown  in  this 
region. 

Pottery  Vessels. 

The  pottery  of  this  region  may  all  be  considered  as  being  either  the 
native  Algonkian  in  type  or  showing  Iroquoian  influence  with  a  third  and 
intermediate  variety.  Algonkian  vessels  may  be  divided  into  the  follow- 
ing groups  according  to  shape: 

1.  Conical,  pointed  bottom,  slightly  swollen  sides,  circumference 
largest  at  the  mouth, — the  typical  Algonkian  pot  of  this  area,  Fig.  a. 

2.  Like  number  1,  but  much  rounder  and  broader,  Fig.  b. 

3.  Bottom  pointed,  sides  slightly  swollen,  neck  slightly  constricted, 
Fig.  c. 

4.  Identical  with  number  2,  except  that  just  below  the  beginning 
of  the  neck,  occur  small  raised  lugs,  ears,  or  handles.  This  is  rare  from 
this  area,  Fig.  d. 

5.  Rounded  bottom,  somewhat  constricted  neck,  lip  sometimes 
flaring,  or  even  turning  down  and  back,  Fig.  e. 

The  intermediate  types  are  as  follows: 

6.  Rounded  bottom,  constricted  neck,  narrow  raised  rim  or  collar, 
Fig.  f. 

7.  Like  number  6,  but  with  sides  more  elongated  and  bottom  more 
oval  than  round,  heavier  collar,  generally  notched  angle,  with  or  without 
a  series  of  small  humps  or  projections  at  intervals,  Fig.  g. 

The  Iroquoian  types  are  as  follow? : 

8.  Mouth  rounded,  collar  or  rim  heavy,  with  humps  or  peaks  at 
intervals,  angle  notched,  neck  constricted  and  bottom  rounded;  can 
stand  by  itself,  an  unknown  feature  in  local  Algonkian  vessels,  Fig.  h. 

9.  Same  as  number  7,  but  with  mouth  square,  and  humps  at  every 
angle.  Much  less  common  than  in  the  preceding,  Fig.  i. 

In  size,  the  vessels  range  from  small  toy -like  pots  to  jars  of  very  large 
capacity.  In  general  they  appear  to  have  been  made  by  the  coil  process, 
and  are  tempered  with  pounded  stone  or  fine  gravel,  mica  or  burned  or 


INDIANS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 


37 


pounded  shell.  Sherds  showing  tempering  by  fiber  or  some  other  sub- 
stance that  disappeared  in  firing  are  found  rarely.  When  vessels  were 
cracked  or  broken,  a  series  of  holes  was  bored  opposite  each  other  on 
either  side  of  the  break  and  the  parts  laced  togel  her.  rendering  the  vessel 

capable  of  storing  dry  objects,  at  least . 


K  i 

POTTERY  FORMS  OF  THE  COASTAL  ALGONKIN 


Life  forms  are  exceedingly  rare  in  local  ceramic  art.  From  Man- 
hattan Island  and  Van  Cortlandt  Park,  there  come  a  number  of  speci- 
mens showing  incised  human  (?)  faces.  rl  nis  is  not  an  uncommon  form 
on  Iroquoian  sites  in  Cenl  ral  and  Western  New  York.  ( >n  the  Bowman's 
Brook  site  at  Mariner's  Harbor.  Staten  Island,  fragments  of  a  typically 
Algonkian  pot  were  obtained  which  bore  at  intervals  rude  raised  faces. 
With  the  sole  exception  of  a  rather  well-modeled  clay  face,  apparently 
broken  from  the  bowl  of  a  pipe  found  at  Port  Washington,  bong  Island. 


38 


AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


by  Mr.  M.  R.  Harrington,  this  brief  statement  concludes  the  list  of  pot- 
tery life  forms  reported  from  this  area,  although  others  may  yet  be  found 
here,  since  some  interesting  objects  have  been  collected  in  immediately 
adjacent  territory. 

The  forms  of  decoration  consist  of  stamping  with  a  stamp,  roulette, 
or  paddle,  and  incising.  Occasionally,  but  very  rarely,  stucco  work 
occurs.   Under  stamping  we  can  enumerate  the  following  processes: 

1.  Impression  with  the  rounded  end  of  a  stick  (rare). 

2.  Impression  with  the  end  of  a  quill,  or  hollow  reed,  leaving  a 
circular  depression  with  a  tiny  lump  or  nipple  (rare)  in  the  center. 

3.  Impression  with  a  section  of  a  hollow  reed,  making  a  stamped 
circle  (rare). 

4.  Impression  with  finger  nail  (doubtful,  but  perhaps  used  on 
some  sherds  from  Manhattan  Island). 

5.  Impression  of  the  edge  of  a  scallop  shell. 

6.  Impression  with  a  carved  bone,  antler,  or  wooden  stamp. 

7.  Impression  of  a  cord-wrapped  stick. 

8.  Impression  with  roulette. 

Under  the  head  of  decoration  by  incision  we  can  enumerate  the 
following: 

9.  Incised  decoration,  probably  made  with  a  stick. 

10.  Incised  decoration,  possibly  made  with  a  flint  object  (only 
one  specimen  at  hand). 

The  paddle  was  frequently  used  to  finish  the  sides  and  bottom  of  the 
pot  by  imparting  an  appearance  of  pressure  with  fabric  when  the  clay 
was  wet. 

11.  Stucco.  Occasionally,  ridges  of  clay  placed  on  the  rim  for 
ornament  appear  to  have  been  added  after  the  shaping  of  the  vessel. 

Ornamentation  is  usually  external,  and  vessels,  either  Algonkian  or 
Iroquoian,  are  rarely  ornamented  below  the  rim,  although  occasionally 
the  designs  run  part  way  clown  the  side  in  the  case  of  the  Algonkian 
forms.  Where  decoration  has  been  applied  by  one  of  the  stamping 
processes,  and  more  rarely  by  incision,  it  is  sometimes  continued  over 
the  lip  or  rim  for  an  inch  or  less  on  the  inside.  This  only  occurs  in  the 
typical  Algonkian  forms,  and  is  never  seen  when  incised  ornamentation 
is  used.  The  rims  of  Iroquoian  vessels  are  never  ornamented  on  the 
interior,  nor  is  stamping  so  frequently  practised  on  vessels  of  this  class. 
The  intermediate  forms,  at  least  the  first  of  the  two  mentioned,  are  fre- 
quently ornamented  on  the  interior  of  the  hp.  This  internal  decoration 
is  much  more  common  in  the  southern  portion  of  this  area  than  elsewhere 
in  the  vicinity. 


INDIANS  OF  MANHATTAN  I  SLA  A  D 


In  design,  we  must  of  course  give  up  all  thought  of  t  tying  t<»  obtain 
symbolism,  if  such  there  were,  for  there  are  do  sources  now  left  upon 
which  to  base  our  assumptions.  Certain  conventional  types  of  decora- 
tion seem  to  have  been  in  vogue,  usually  consisting  in  rows  of  stamped 
or  incised  parallel  lines  and  much  more  rarely  of  dots  regularly  arranged 
in  the  same  manner.  Zigzag,  chevron,  and  "herring  hone"  patterns  are 
the  most  common,  but  other  angular  forms  occur,  and  lows  of  parallel 
lines  encircling  the  vessel  are  sometimes  to  be  found.  Stamping  and 
incising  as  decorative  processes  never  seem  to  occur  on  the  same  vessel. 


TYPICAL  ALGONKIAN  POTTERY  PIPE  AND  FRAGMENT  OF  AN  EFFIGY  PIPE 
FROM  PORT  WASHINGTON,  L.  I. 

Curvilinear  decoration  is  exceedingly  rare,  and  not  enough  material  is  at 
hand  to  show  that  patterns  were  used;  possibly  these  were  scrolls  of  some 
form.  On  account  of  the  lack  of  material,  it  cannot  be  determined,  except 
in  a  very  "general  and  unsatisfactory  way,  whether  the  designs  on  the 
Algonkian  vessels  differ  from  those  on  the  Iroquoian. 

The  angle  formed  where  the  heavy  rim  or  collar  leaves  the  con- 
stricted neck  of  the  Iroquoian  vessel  is  almost  invariably  notched,  and 
as  such  collars  and  angles  do  not  occur  on  vessels  of  the  t  rue  Algonkian 
type,  this  feature  is  necessarily  absent  from  them.  It  is  noticeable1  that 
Iroquoian  vessels  are  usually  decorated  with  incised  designs,  rather  than 
stamped  patterns. 


INCISED  DESIGNS  FROM  ALGONKIAN  VESSELS 


40  AMERICAX  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


////  ft  ///'////  //////-"  F 


INCISED  DESIGNS  FROM  POTTERY  VESSELS 

a,  b,  and  d,  designs  from  Iroquoian  vessels;  c  and  e,  designs  from  an  Algonkian 
vessel;  /,  design  from  a  vessel  of  the  Iroquoian  type  from  a  Connecticut  rock-shelter, 
introduced  here  for  comparison. 


INDIANS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 


1 1 


Pottery  is  found  abundantly  on  the  majority  of  the  Bites  in  this 
district;  but,  while  very  much  more  common  than  in  the  New  Kn  gland 
area,  it  does  not  equal  in  abundance  that  from  the  Iroquois  country,  h 
is  rarely  found  buried  in  graves  with  skeletons  as  in  the  Iroquoian  area; 
when  sometimes  found  in  graves,  however,  it  is  usually  at  some  distance 
from  the  human  remains  and  apparently  not  connected  with  them. 
Whole  or  nearly  whole  vessels  are  exceedingly  rare  and  the  Dumber  of 
those  found  up  to  date  may  easily  be  counted  upon  the  fingers.  Pot- 
sherds taken  from  pits  or  shell-heaps,  where  they  have  not  been  exposed 
to  the  action  of  the  weather,  are  often  as  thickly  covered  with  grease  as 
when  they  were  broken  and  cast  aside. 

Articles  of  Metal. 
Beads.  Beads  of  native  metal,  consisting  simply  of  pieces  of  ham- 
mered sheet  copper  rolled  into  small  tubes,  have  been  found,  but  they 
are  very  rare.  Copper  salts,  but  no  objects,  were  found  upon  the  bones, 
especially  on  those  of  the  head  and  neck  of  a  child's  skeleton  at  Burial 
Ridge,  Tottenville,  Staten  Island,  which  seemed  to  predicate  the  use  of 
copper  beads.  A  great  many  beads  of  olivclla  shell,  some  of  them  dis- 
colored by  copper  salts,  were  found  about  the  neck  of  the  skeleton.  A 
single  celt  of  copper  is  said  to  have  been  found  in  Westchester  County, 
probably  on  Croton  Neck,  slightly  above  the  limit  of  the  territory 
treated  in  this  paper.1  A  large  number  of  copper  beads  of  the  type4 
described  were  found  with  a  skeleton  on  Constable  Hook.  Bayonne, 
New  Jersey,  and  are  now  in  the  hands  of  a  private  collector  in  Brooklyn. 

Articles  of  Shell. 
Wampum.  Objects  of  shell  are  not  at  all  common,  notwithstand- 
ing that  the  coast  region  of  New  York  was  one  of  the  best  known  locali- 
ties For  wampum  manufacture  on  the  continent.  Wampum  beads  are 
almost  unknown  from  local  sites.  With  the  exception  of  completed 
beads,  most  of  which  may  have  been  taken  into  the  interior,  by  the 
Indians,  wampum  may  be  found  in  all  stages  of  manufacture.  We  refer 
to  the  white  wampum,  for  traces  of  the  "black"  (blue)  wampum  made 
from  the  hard  clam  or  quahog  are  so  far  not  reported.  The  process  of 
manufacture  may  be  shown  by  shells  with  the  outer  whorls  broken 
away  in  steps  until  the  innermost  solid  column  is  reached,  ground  and 
polished  at  the  end,  and  needing  only  cutting  off  into  sections  and  per- 

1  Native  copper  occurs  in  the  New  Jersey  trap  ridges  within  a  lew  mil.  -  ol  \. m  Ymk  <  "in  .  Ml 
important  source  in  Colonial  time-  being  near  Bounilhrook.  '.iU  miles  from  the  lower  end  of  Manhattan 
Island.     Bowlders  of  native  copper  occur  in  the  glacial  drift. 


42  AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


forations  to  make  the  finished  white  wampum  bead.  These  do  not  occur 
on  all  sites,  though  they  have  been  found  here  and  there  throughout 
the  region.  Ninety-six  conch  shells  with  the  outer  whorls  broken  entirely 
away  were  found  in  a  grave  at  Burial  Ridge,  Tottenville,  Staten  Island, 
about  the  head  and  neck  of  a  skeleton. 

Pendants.  Occasionally  oyster  and  clam  shells,  found  unworked 
save  for  perforations  in  them,  may  have  been  pendants  or  ornaments, 
but  certainly  have  little  aesthetic  value. 

Scrapers.  Clam  shells  seem  to  have  been  used  as  scrapers  and 
some  are  occasionally  found  with  one  edge  showing  the  effect  of  rubbing 
and  wearing.  These  are  rare,  however.  Some  may  have  been  pottery 
smoothers.  Clam  shells  have  been  reported  which  contained  central 
perforations  and  were  identical  in  appearance  with  some  shell  pottery 
scrapers  and  smoothers  collected  by  Mr.  M.  R.  Harrington  among  the 
Catawba.  Contemporary  writers  mention  the  use  of  knives  made  of 
shell. 

Pottery  Tempering.  This  was  sometimes  done  with  calcined  and 
pounded  shells,  but  was  uncommon,  considering  the  abundance  of  the 
material  at  hand.  Pounded  stone  or  gravel  seems  to  have  been  more 
favored. 

Pottery  Stamps.  The  corrugated  edge  of  a  scallop  shell  was  fre- 
quently used  as  a  stamp  for  pottery,  as  may  be  seen  by  examining  the 
potsherds  from  this  region. 

Articles  of  Bone  and  Antler. 

Objects  of  bone  and  antler,  while  perhaps  more  abundant  here  than 
in  New  England,  are  far  less  plentiful  in  form  and  number  than  in  the 
Iroquoian  area.  Cut  bones  are  frequent  in  most  shell  pits  and  heaps. 
They  were  cut  probably  with  a  flint  knife,  by  grooving  the  bone  partly 
through  on  all  sides,  and  breaking. 

Bone  Aivls.  These  utensils  are  the  most  common  of  all  bone 
articles  in  this  region  and  are  found  in  almost  every  part  of  the  area. 
Some  are  merely  sharpened  slivers,  but  others  show  a  considerable  degree 
of  work,  and  are  well  finished  and  polished.  They  are  usually  made  of 
deer  or  other  mammal  bone,  but  sometimes  from  the  leg  bones  of  birds. 

In  some  instances,  the  joint  of  the  bone  is  left  for  a  handle,  but  this  is 
often  cut  off.  Grooved,  perforated,  or  decorated  bone  awls  are  extremely 
rare  in  this  region.  While  it  is  generally  considered  that  these  bone  tools 
were  used  as  awls  in  sewing  leather,  as  by  modern  shoemakers,  neverthe- 
less, they  may  have  served  as  forks  in  removing  hot  morsels  from  the  pot 


INDIANS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 


or  for  a  Dumber  of  other  purposes.  The  latter  supposition  is  supported 
by  the  abundance  of  bone  awls  found  in  some  shell  pits.  The  Eastern 
Creeof  the  Hudson  Bay  region  use  a  similar  bone  implement  as  the  catch- 
ing or  striking  pin  in  the  cup-and-ball  game. 

Bone  Needles.  These  are  rare,  but  found  in  most  localities.  They 
are  generally  made  of  the  curved  ribs  of  mammals  and  are  six  or  eight 
inches  long;,  or  even  longer.  They  are  generally  broken  across  the  eye, 
which  is  usually  midway  between  the  ends.  A  few  with  the  perforation 
at  one  end  have  been  reported. 

Bone  Arrow  Points,  usually  hollow  and  conical  in  shape,  have  been 
found,  especially  at  Tottenville,  Staten  Island,  in  the  Burial  Ridge. 
They  are  rather  rare,  but  this  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  conditions  are 
not  suitable  for  their  preservation  in  most  localities.  Others  are  flat 
and  triangular  in  shape. 

Harpoons.  No  actual  barbed  bone  harpoons,  such  as  occur  in  the 
Iroquois  country,  have  been  reported  from  this  region;  although  the 
writer  has  seen  what  appeared  to  be  part  of  one  from  Shinnecock  Hills, 
Long  Island,  whence  comes  a  harpoon  barb  of  bone  found  by  the  writer, 
now  in  the  Museum  collection,  which  was  apparently  made  to  tie  to  a 
wooden  shaft.  While  neither  of  these  forms  seems  to  occur  within  this 
region,  several  naturally  barbed  spines  from  the  tail  of  the  sting-ray, 
found  on  the  Bowman's  Brook  site,  at  Mariner's  Harbor,  Staten  Island, 
may  have  been  used  as  harpoons  or  fish  spears,  for  which  purpose  they 
were  admirably  suited  by  nature.  Long,  narrow,  chipped  stone  arrow- 
heads are  generally  called  "fish  points"  but  they  do  not  seem  peculiarly 
adapted  for  this  purpose  and  the  name  is  probably  a  misnomer.  No 
bone  fish  hooks  are  reported  from  hereabouts,  though  suggested  by  early 
writers. 

Bone  Beads  and  Tubes.  While  so  abundant  on  Iroquoian  sites, 
tubes  and  beads  made  of  hollow  bird  or  other  animal  bones,  polished  and 
cut  in  sections,  are  very  rare  here. 

Draw  Shaves,  or  Beaming  Tools,  made  of  bone,  and  probably  used 
for  removing  the  hair  from  skins,  were  made  by  splitting  the  bone  of  a 
deer's  leg,  leaving  a  sharp  blade  in  the  middle  with  the  joints  on  either 
end  as  handles.  The  writer  has  seen  none  from  this  immediate  region, 
but  they  are  reported  by  Mr.  M.  R.  Harrington.  A  Dumber  were  ob- 
tained for  the  Museum  by  Mr.  Ernest  Yolk  in  the  Lenape  sites  near 
Trenton,  New  Jersey.  An  implement .  evidently  made  of  the  scapula  of  a 
deer,  and  perhaps  used  as  a  scraper,  was  found  in  a  grave  at  Burial 
Ridge,  Tottenville,  Staten  Island,  by  Mr.  ( leorge  II.  Pepper. 


44  AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


Worked  Teeth.  Perforated  teeth  of  the  bear,  wolf,  and  other  animals, 
so  abundant  on  Iroquoian  sites,  never  seem  to  be  found  here.  Beavers' 
teeth  cut  and  ground  to  an  edge,  occur,  and  may  have  been  used  as 
chisels,  or  primitive  crooked  knives,  or  both,  as  they  were  till  recently 
by  some  of  the  eastern  Canadian  Algonkin.  Other  cut  beaver  teeth  may 
have  served  as  dice  or  counters  in  gaming. 

Turtle  Shell  Cups.  These  are  common,  and  consist  merely  of  the 
bony  carapace  of  the  box  turtle  (Terrapene  Carolina),  scraped  and  cleaned 
inside,  the  ribs  being  cut  away  from  the  covering  to  finish  the  utensil 
for  use. 

Antler  Implements.  Deer  antlers  and  fragments  of  antler,  worked 
and  unworked,  occur  in  all  shell-heaps  and  pits.  When  whole  antlers 
are  found,  they  usually  show  at  the  base  the  marks  of  the  axe  or  other 
implement  used  to  detach  them  from  the  skull.  Cut  antler  prongs, 
prongs  broken  from  the  main  shaft  and  others  partly  hollowed  and 
sharpened  show  the  process  of  manufacture  of  antler  arrow  points. 
These  are  characteristic  of  this  area  and  are  usually  conical  in  shape, 
hollowed  to  receive  the  shaft,  and  with  one  or  more  barbs;  not  infre- 
quently, however,  they  are  diamond-shaped  in  cross-section.  The  shaft 
fitted  into  the  hollow  socket  as  in  the  case  of  the  conical  bone  arrow 
points.  A  large  number  were  found  in  and  among  the  bones  of  human 
skeletons  in  a  grave  at  the  Burial  Ridge,  Tottenville,  Staten  Island. 

Cylinders,  neatly  cut  and  worked  all  over,  or  cylindrical  tines  made 
of  deer  antler  cut  and  rounded  only  at  the  ends,  are  not  infrequent,  and 
were  probably  used  as  flaking  tools  in  making  and  finishing  arrow  points 
by  pressure.  One  broken  cylinder  or  pin,  found  on  the  Bowman's  Brook 
site,  Mariner's  Harbor,  Staten  Island,  had  a  rounded,  neatly  carved  head. 
This  specimen,  however,  seems  to  be  unique. 

Pottery  Stamps,  perhaps  of  antler  or  bone  but  which  may  be  of  wood, 
seem  to  have  been  used,  judging  by  the  decorations  of  many  pottery 
sherds.  A  pottery  stamp,  carved  from  antler,  was  found  slightly  east  of 
this  region,  at  Dosoris,  Glen  Cove,  Long  Island,  by  Mr.  M.  R.  Harring- 
ton, and  is  now  in  the  Museum  collection. 

Trade  Articles. 

In  spite  of  the  frequent  mention  by  old  writers  of  barter  of  European 
for  Indian  goods,  the  amount  of  trade  material  found  is  small  indeed. 
While  it  is  abundant  in  the  Iroquoian  area,  all  that  has  ever  been  found 
here  consists  of  a  few  round-socketed  iron  tomahawks,  iron  hoes,  brass  or 
copper  arrow  points  of  various  styles,  a  little  porcelain,  a  few  glass  beads, 


IXDIAXS  OF  MAXIIATTAX  ISLAXI) 


Venetian  and  plain,  and  some  old  pipes,  aotably  those  stamped  "R. 
Tippet"  on  the  bowl.  All  these  articles  are  very  rare  here,  and  for  this 
no  adequate  explanation  can  be  given. 


LOCATION  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  COASTAL  ALGONKIN  AND  THEIR  NEIGHBORS 


K  KSI  MK. 

The  area  treated  of  in  this  paper  was  inhabited  during  historic 
times  by  the  following  tribes:1 

'On  the  map  above,  these  tribes  are  shown  together  with  tin-  bong  Island  and  other  neighboring 
tribes  as  indicated  bv  Beam-hump  in  the  map  accompanying  his  Aboriginal  Occupation  of  New 
York,"  New  York  State  Museum,  Bulletin       Albany,  1900. 


46 


AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


A.  The  Lenni  Lenape,  or  Delaware,  ranging  from  the  Raritan 
River,  including  Staten  Island,  to  Saugerties  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Hudson. 

Raritan  or  Assanhican. 

Hackensack. 

Tappan. 

Aquakanonk. 

Haverstraw. 

Waranawankong. 

B.  The  Wappinger  Confederacy  ranging  along  the  east  bank  of  the 
Hudson,  eastward  to  Connecticut,  from  Manhattan  Island. 

Rechgawawank  or  Manhattan. 

Siwanoy. 

Weckquaskeck. 

Wappinger. 

C.  Montauk  or  Matouwack  Confederacy. 
Canarsie. 

These  tribes  were  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  neighbors  of  the  same 
stock,  who  differed  somewhat  in  their  language  and  culture.  On  the 
south  and  west  lay  the  Lenni  Lenape,  or  Delawaie  proper,  on  the  north 
the  Mahikan,  and  on  the  east  the  New  England  tribes.  Almost  with- 
out exception,  these  natives  were  displaced  early  in  the  history  of  this 
country,  and  have  been  long  since  expatriated  or  exterminated.  A  very 
few  mixed  bloods  may  yet  be  found  on  Staten  Island,  Long  Island,  and  in 
Westchester  County,  but  their  percentage  of  Indian  blood  is  extremely 
low. 

The  remains  of  aboriginal  life  now  to  be  found  consist  of  shell- 
heaps,  occurring  at  every  convenient  point  along  the  coast,  on  the 
rivers,  and,  more  rarely,  inland;  shell,  refuse,  and  fire  pits;  camp, 
village,  and  burial  sites;  and  rock  and  cave  shelters.  With  one  promi- 
nent exception,1  few  or  no  relics  have  been  found  in  graves.  The  typical 
interment  was  of  the  flexed  variety.  Bone  burials,  also,  are  not  infrequent. 

Dog  skeletons,  complete  and  intact  ,  bearing  the  appearance  of  having 
been  laid  out,  are  sometimes  found  buried  in  separate  graves.  Some 
writers  have  supposed  that  these  individual  dog  burials  are  the  remains 
of  "white  dog  feasts"  or  kindred  practices,  because  the  Iroquois  even 
up  to  the  present  day  hold  such  ceremonies.  The  white  dog  is  entirely 
cremated  by  the  Iroquois,  and  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  find  out, 


Burial  Ridge,  Tottenville,  Staten  Island. 


INDIANS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 


17 


there  is  no  record  of  such  occurrences  among  the  Coastal  Algonkin; 
hence;  there  seems  no  reason  to  attribute  this  custom  to  them  since 
other  Iroquois  traits  were  so  infrequent.  It  seems  more  probable  thai 
such  burials  are  simply  those  of  pel  animals,  interred  as  we  today  honor  a 
faithful  dog. 

Some  of  these  dog  burials  may  have  been  sacrifices  made  to  the 
Underneath  Powers,  such  as  horned  snakes,  just  as  is  the  practice  of  the 
western  Indians  today. 

In  Waessenaer's  Historic  Von  Europe,  we  read  of  the  Mahikan  who 
lived  on  the  Upper  Hudson. 

It  appears  that  the  Sickanamers  before-mentioned,  make  a  sort  of  sacrifice.  They 
have  a  hole  in  a  hill  in  which  they  place  a  kettle  full  of  all  sorts  of  articles  that  they 
have,  either  by  them,  or  procured.  When  there  is  a  great  quantity  collected  a  snake 
comes  in,  then  they  all  depart,  and  the  Manittou,  that  is  the  Devil,  comes  in  the  night 
and  takes  the  kettle  away,  according  to  the  statement  of  the  Koutsinacka,  or  Devil 
hunter,  who  presides  over  the  ceremony.1 

****** 

Our  Indians  may  well  have4  sacrificed  dogs  and  buried  them  for  these 
mythical  snake  monsters. 

Occasionally,  the  skeletons  of  dogs  and  rarely  of  other  animals  have 
been  found  in  graves  associated  with  human  bones.  The  finding  of 
arrow-heads  among  the  ribs  of  some  of  these,  and  other  circumstances, 
seem  to  point  to  a  practice  of  killing  a  favorite  animal  on  the  death  of  its 
owner  to  accompany  or  protect  the  spirit  of  its  master  on  the  journey 
to  the  hereafter. 

From  their  appearance  and  position,  many  graves  seem  to  indicate1 
that  the  dead  may  sometimes  have  been  buried  under  the  lodge,  espe- 
cially in  winter,  when  the  ground  outside  was  frozen  too  haul  to  permit 
grave  digging.  Others  under  the  same  circumstances  seem  to  have  been 
buried  in  refuse  pits.  The  remains  further  indicate  thai  "feasts  of  the 
dead"  were  also  held  at  the  time  of  the  interment,  judging  by  the 
quantity  of  oyster  shells  and  animal  bones  in  and  Dear  the  graves. 
Some  graves  have  rows  or  layers  of  oyster  shells,  with  the  sharp  cutting 
edge  upward,  placed  above  the  bodies  as  if  to  prevent  wild  animals 
from  disinterring  and  devouring  the  dead. 

An  interesting  fact,  brought  to  light  by  the  rock-shelter  work  of 
Messrs.  Schrabisch  and  Harrington  in  their  explorations  in  New  Jersey 
and  in  Westchester  County,  New  York,  is  that  in  the  lowest  and  oldest 
refuse  layers  of  some  of  these  shelters  pottery  does  not  occur.    It  would 


'Documentary  History  of  Now  York,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  4»>. 


48  AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


be  ill  advised  to  infer  from  this  that  the  earliest  occupants  were  peoples 
of  another  culture  from  the  surrounding  village  dwellers,  as  the  other 
artifacts  found  are  quite  similar  to  the  implements  of  the  latter.  Many 
reasons  for  this  lack  of  pottery,  such  as  the  more  easy  transportation  of 
vessels  of  bark  or  wood  through  the  mountains  and  hills,  suggest  them- 
selves, though  they  are  more  or  less  nullified  by  the  presence  of  pottery  in 
the  upper  layers.  The  upper  layer,  however,  may  have  been  made  during 
the  period  when  the  natives  were  being  displaced  by  Europeans  and  at 
the  same  time  subjected  to  Iroquoian  raids,  when  the  villages  would 
naturally  be  abandoned  from  time  to  time,  for  refuge  among  the  cliffs 
and  caves  of  the  mountain  fastnesses. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  rock  and  cave  shelters  are  remains  of 
an  older  occupation  by  people  with  or  without  the  same  culture  as  the 
later  known  savages.  The  nature  of  the  finds  does  not  support  this  view, 
for  the  specimens  obtained  are  often  of  as  good  workmanship  as  the  best 
to  be  found  in  the  villages  and  cemeteries  of  the  latter,  while  pottery,  on 
the  other  hand,  occurs  on  the  oldest  known  Algonkian  sites.  It  seems 
most  probable  to  the  writer  that,  like  the  shell-heaps,  the  rock  and  cave 
shelters  form  but  a  component  part,  or  phase,  of  the  local  culture,  per- 
haps a  little  specialized  from  usage  and  environment,  but  contemporary 
with  the  villages,  shell-heaps,  and  cemeteries  of  the  lowlands. 

Mounds  and  earthworks  do  not  occur  in  the  region  under  considera- 
tion, nor  does  it  appear  that  most  of  the  Indian  villages  here  were  forti- 
fied, unless  they  were  slightly  stockaded.  A  number  of  instances  of  this 
are  known  historically,  however,  and  a  few  earthworks  occur  just  beyond 
this  area.1 

The  remains  found  do  not  bear  any  appearance  of  very  great  geo- 
logical antiquity.  In  a  few  instances,  rock-shelters,  shell-heaps,  and  vil- 
lage sites  seem  to  possess  a  relative  antiquity;  but  the  oldest  known  re- 
mains, in  every  case,  may  be  placed  as  Algonkian  with  considerable 
certainty.  No  paleoliths  have  been  reported,  and  it  would  seem  from 
the  comparative  lack  of  antiquity  of  the  remains  that  the  natives  could 
not  have  lived  in  this  region  for  many  centuries  before  the  advent  of  the 
whites.  The  accounts  of  contemporary  writers  prove  conclusively  that 
these  archaeological  remains,  if  not  those  left  by  Indians  found  here  by 
the  early  Dutch  and  English  settlers,  must  have  been  from  people  of  very 
similar  culture.  In  culture,  the  local  Indians  were  not  as  high  as  the 
Iroquois,  nor  perhaps  as  the  Lenape  or  Delaware  proper  to  whom  they 

l\n  earthwork  at  Croton  Point  on  the  Hudson  has  been  excavated  by  Mr.  M.  E.  Harrington  for 
the  American  Museum. 


INDIANS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 


49 


are  related;  bul  they  compare  very  favorably  with  the  New  England 
tribes.  Absence  and  scarcity  of  certain  artifacts,  such  as  steatite  vessels, 
the  long  stone  pestle,  the  gouge,  adze,  and  plummet,  and  the  abundance 
and  character  of  bone  and  pottery  articles  show  them  to  have  been  inter- 
mediate in  character  between  the  Lenape  on  the  south  and  west .  and  the 
New  England  tribes  on  the  cast  and  north:  and  consultations  of  the  old 
European  contemporaries  show  that  this  was  the  case  linguistically  as 
well  as  culturally.  Examination  of  the  remains  also  shows  that  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Lenape  on  the  west,  and  of  the  New  England  peoples  on 
the  east,  was  most  strongly  felt  near  their  respective  borders.  Eroquoian 
influence  was  strong,  as  evinced  by  the  pottery,  and  there  is  also  docu- 
mentary evidence  to  this  effect.  Finally,  as  is  frequent  throughout  most 
of  eastern  North  America,  the  archaeological  remains  may  be  definitely 
placed  as  belonging  to  the  native  Indian  tribes  who  held  the  country  at 
the  time  of  its  discovery  or  to  their  immediate  ancestors. 


HE  first  field  work  done  on  Manhattan  Island  is  of  very  recent 


date.    Doubtless  many  articles  of  Indian  manufacture  and  evi- 


deuces  of  Indian  occupation  were  found  as  the  city  grew  up  from 
its  first  settlement  at  Fort  Amsterdam,  but  of  these  specimens  we  have 
very  few  records.  An  arrow  point  found  in  the  plaster  on  the  wall  of  a 
Colonial  house  was,  without  doubt,  in  the  hands  of  some  member  of  the 
Kortrecht  family;  and  Indian  pottery  has  been  found  in  a  hut  occupied 
by  Hessian  soldiers  during  the  War  of  Independence.  The  first  speci- 
mens to  have  been  preserved,  to  the  knowledge  of  those  now  interested  in 
the  subject,  were  found  in  1855.  and  consisted  of  Indian  arrow  points  dis- 
covered in  Harlem  during  excavation  for  a  cellar  on  Avenue  A.  between 
120th  and  121st  Streets.  Some  of  these  are  spoken  of  by  .lames  Hiker  as 
being  in  the  author's  cabinet.  Hiker  also  speaks  of  shell-heaps  near 
here.3  The  next  specimens  preserved  were  found  at  Kingsbridge  Road 
(now  Broadway)  and  220th  Street  in  1880,  and  are  in  the  John  Xeafie 
collection  at  the  Museum.  These  consist  of  an  arrow  point  and  a  few 
bits  of  pottery.   The  next  work  was  begun  in  1889  by  Mr.  \Y.  L.  ( 'alver 


ABORIGINAL  REMAINS  ON  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 


'By  James  K.  Finch,  revised  by  Leslie  Spier. 
JHistorv  of  Harlem  (1881).  footnote,  p.  137. 
Ubid.  p.  366. 


50 


AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


of  this  city,  and  has  led  to  the  discovery  of  much  valuable  material  which 
has  been  preserved.1 

The  following  account  of  the  work  is  taken  mainly  from  Mr.  Carver's 
notebook: 

In  the  autumn  of  the  year  1889,  while  exploring  the  heights  of 
Bloomingdale  (now  called  Cathedral  Heights)  for  any  relics  that  might 
have  remained  from  the  Battle  of  Harlem,  Mr.  Calver  discovered  one 
arrow  point  at  118th  Street,  east  of  Ninth  Avenue,  and  immediately 
afterwards  a  circular  hammerstone.  On  a  later  trip  to  the  same  locality, 
he  found  a  small  grooved  axe  or  tomahawk.  In  February,  1890,  while 
hunting  for  Revolutionary  relics  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Washington,  he 
made  a  trip  to  the  northern  part  of  the  island  in  search  of  British  regimen- 
tal buttons,  many  of  which  were  said  to  have  been  found  in  that  vicinity. 
There  he  met  an  old  acquaintance,  Mr.  John  Pearce,  a  policeman  then  on 
duty  there,  bywhom  he  was  introduced  to  Mr.  James  McGuey,  a  youth 
residing  in  the  vicinity  of  198th  Street  and  Kingsbridge  Road,  and,  while 
crossing  the  orchard  at  Academy  Street  and  Seaman  Avenue,  Mr.  Calver 
saw  that  the  ground  was  thickly  strewn  with  shells  which  afterwards 
proved  to  be  of  Indian  origin. 

The  first  Sunday  in  March,  Messrs.  Calver  and  McGuey  explored 
this  part  of  the  Island  for  Indian  remains.  At  the  junction  of  Academy 
Street  and  Prescott  Avenue,  the}'  found  an  Indian  potsherd  the  import- 
ance of  which  Mr.  McGuey  seemed  to  realize,  for,  a  week  later,  Mr. 
Calver  met  him  again  and  was  presented  by  him  with  a  number  of  frag- 
ments of  Indian  ware.  He  assured  Mr.  Calver  that  he  had  found  them  by 
digging  in  an  Indian  graveyard.  The  two  men  dug  again  at  this  place, 
and  found  more  pottery.  They  then  went  to  Cold  Spring,  a  point  on  the 
extreme  northern  end  of  the  Island,  and  in  a  shell-heap  there  they  found 
more  Indian  work.  Mr.  Alexander  C.  Chenoweth,  an  engineer  then  on  the 
Croton  Aqueduct,  hearing  of  these  discoveries,  obtained  a  permit  from 
the  property  owners  and  began  to  explore  "The  Knoll,"  at  Dyckman 
Street  and  Broadway,  for  Indian  remains.  After  having  finished  here, 
he  went  to  Cold  Spring  and  made  some  further  discoveries.  All  his  speci- 
mens were  purchased  in  1894  by  the  Museum,  and  some  of  them  are  now 
on  exhibition. 

'In  the  Spring  of  1S90  Mr.  Edward  Hagaman  Hall  began  his  investigations  and  at  about  the  same 
time  Mr.  Reginald  Pelham  Bolton  entered  the  field  of  local  research.  In  many  instances  these  gentle- 
men and  Mr.  W.  L.  Calver  collaborated  with  valuable  results.  In  the  preservation  of  the  traces  of  Indian 
occupation  of  Manhattan  Island  the  American  Scenic  and  Historic  Preservation  Society  (formed  in  1895 
under  the  presidency  of  the  late  Hon.  Andrew  H.  Green,  but  now  under  that  of  Dr.  George  Frederick 
Kunz)  has  done  much  pioneer  work.  , 


IXDIAXS  OF  MAXIIATTAX  ISLAXI) 


51 


Since  this  time,  several  interesting  relics  have  been  found,  and  as  t  he 
work  of  grading  streets  and  other  excavation  at  this  pari  of  the  Island 
are  carried  on,  more  relics  will  probably  conic  to  lighl . 

The  only  Indian  remains  left  on  the  Island,  so  far  as  known  to  the 
writer,  arc  situated  at  the  extreme  northern  end  at  Inwood  and  ('old 
Spring.  They  consist  of  the  so-called  shell-heaps  or  refuse  piles  from 
Indian  camps,  and  three  rock-shelters  at  Cold  Spring.  But  we  have 
evidence  to  show  that  this  was  not  the  only  part  of  the  Island  occupied 
by  the  Indians.  Mrs.  Lamb1  says  that  the  Dutch  found  a  large  shell- 
heap  on  the  west  shore  of  Fresh  Water  Pond,  a  small  pond,  most  ly  swamp, 
which  was  hounded  by  t  he  present  Bowery,  Kim,  (  "anal,  and  Pearl  St  reets. 
and  which  they  named  from  this  circumstance  Kalch-Hook.  In  course  of 
time,  this  was  abbreviated  to  Kalch  or  Collect  and  was  applied  to  the 
pond  itself.2  This  shell-heap  must  have  been  the  accumulation  of  quite  a 
village,  for  Mrs.  J  no.  K.  Van  Rensselaer3  speaks  of  a  castle  called  ( 'atie- 
muts  overlooking  a  small  pond  near  Canal  Street,  and  says  that  the 
neighborhood  was  called  Shell  Point.  Hemstreet  refers  to  the  same  cast  le 
as  being  on  a  hill  "close  by  the  present  Chatham  Square,"  and  says  that 
it  had  once  been  an  "Indian  lookout."4  Excavations  at  Pearl  Street  are 
said  to  have  reached  old  shell  banks.  "The  Memorial  History  of  New 
York"5  says  that  a  hill  near  ( Ihatham  Square  was  called  Warpoes,  which 
meant  literally  a  "small  hill."6  According  to  the  same  authority. 
"Corlear's  Hoeck  was  called  Naigianac,  literally,  'sandlands.'  It  may, 
however,  have  been  the  name  of  the  Indian  village  which  stood  there,  and 
was  in  temporary  occupation."  This  is  the  only  reference  we  have  to  this 
village,  but  there  are  references  to  another  on  the  lower  end  of  the 
Island.  Janvier7  says  that  there  was  an  Indian  settlement  as  late  as  1661 
at  Sappokanican  near  the  present  Gansevoort  Market.  According  to 
Judge  Benson,8  Sappokanican  ("tobacco  field")9  was  the  Indian  name 
for  the  point  afterwards  known  as  Greenwich.  "In  the  Dutch  records 
references  are  made  to  the  Indian  village  of  Sappokanican;  and  this 
name  *  *  *  was  applied  for  more  than  a  century  to  the  region  which 
came  to  be  known  as  ( Ireenwich  in  the  later,  English,  times.  The  Indian 
village  probably  was  near  the  site  of  the  present  Gansevoort  Market: 

•History  of  New  York  ( 'ity.  p.  36. 

-Mr.  Edward  Hagaman  Hall,  however,  derives  the  name  from  "  Kolk  "  01   "  Kolcfa,  **  a  word  -till 
in  use  in  Holland  and  applied  to  portions  of  a  canal  or  ineloMire  oi  water  Editor. 
Kloede-Yrouw  of  Manahata,  p.  39. 

4Homstrcet.  Nooks  and  Comers  of  Old  New  York.  p.  46. 
^Bulletin,  N.  Y.  State  Museum,  Vol.  7,  No.  :{_>,  p.  107,  Feb.,  1000. 
'James  (I.  Wilson,  op.  eft.,  p.  •">:>. 
'Evolution  of  New  York. 

»N.  Y.  Historical  Society  Collections.  S.  II,  Vol.  II.  Pt.  I.  p.  84,  1848. 
?AU  Hilse  translations  are  douhtful. 


52 


AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


but  the  name  seems  to  have  been  applied  to  the  whole  region  lying  be- 
tween the  North  River  and  the  stream  called  the  Manetta  Water  or 
Bestavaar's  Kill."1  Benton  says  that  the  name  of  the  village  was  Lapini- 
can.2  Going  back  to  the  old  Dutch  records  might  lead  to  finding  the 
actual  names  and  other  data  regarding  these  places. 

Most  of  the  specimens  found  on  Manhattan  Island,  as  already 
stated,  come  from  the  northern  part.  We  have  a  few  from  the  central 
portion,  however.  There  are  the  arrow-heads  spoken  of  by  Riker,  and 
in  the  Webster  Free  Library  there  is  a  fine  specimen  of  a  grooved  stone 
axe  found  at  77th  Street  and  Avenue  B.  Mr.  Calver  has  found  an  arrow- 
head at  81st  Street  and  Hudson  River  and  specimens  from  the  site  of 
Columbia  College  have  been  recorded. 

Doubtless  the  northern  part  of  the  Island  was  inhabited  for 
the  longer  period;  but  it  is  probable  that  all  along,  the  shore,  wherever 
one  of  the  many  springs  or  small  brooks,  shown  on  old  maps,  emptied 
into  the  Hudson  or  East  River,  there  were  small,  temporary  Indian 
camps.  It  is  likely  that  these  camps  were  used  only  in  summer,  while  the 
primitive  occupant  of  Manhattan  retreated  to  the  more  protected  part 
of  the  Island,  as  at  Inwood  and  Cold  Spring,  during  the  winter.  Or  it 
may  be  possible  that,  as  Ruttenber3  states,  the  villages  on  Manhattan 
Island  were  only  occupied  when  the  Indians  were  on  hunting  and  fishing- 
excursions,  while  their  permanent  villages  were  on  the  mainland.  Bol- 
ton,4 however,  says  their  principal  settlement  was  on  Manhattan  Island. 

Fort  Washington  Point.  There  is  a  small  deposit  of  shells  on  the 
southern  edge  of  the  point,  in  which  the  writer  found  some  small  pieces 
of  pottery  and  a  few  flint  chips,  thus  proving  its  Indian  origin.  This  was 
probably  a  summer  camp,  as  it  was  too  exposed  for  winter  use. 

Zerrenner's  Farm.  A  favorable  sloping  field  at  194th  Street  and 
Broadway  now  used  for  truck  farming,  was  utilized  as  a  camp  site. 
Camp  debris  of  varied  character  has  been  plowed  up  here.  Perhaps 
the  overhanging  rocks  below  Ft.  Washington,  between  194th  and  198th 
Streets  on  Bennett  Avenue,  afforded  the  Indians  some  shelter  in  winter. 

Inwood  Station  Site.  At  the  foot  of  Dyckman  Street  and  Hudson 
River,  there  existed  a  large  deposit  of  shells,  most  of  which  were  removed 
when  the  rocks  on  which  they  lay  were  blasted  away  for  grading  the 
street.  A  few  arrow  points  and  bits  of  pottery,  as  well  as  several  Revolu- 
tionary objects,  were  found  here.  There  are  photographs  of  this  deposit 
in  the  Museum. 

JThos.  A.  Janvier,  in  Old  New  York,  pp.  85-86. 
2New  York,  p.  26. 

3Indian  Tribes  of  Hudson's  River,  p.  78. 
^History  of  Westchester  County,  p.  25. 


INDIANS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 


53 


Seaman  Arenac  Site.  This  site,  between  Academy  and  Hawthorne 
Streets,  running;  through  from  Seaman  Avenue  to  Cooper  Street,  is  the 
most  extensive  village  site  from  which  remains  have  been  collected.  It 
was  a  British  camp  site  during  the  Revolut  ion,  and  a  number  of  buttons, 
gun-flints,  and  bullets  have  been  found  there,  as  well  as  numerous  Indian 
remains.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  workshop  for  a  red  jasper-like  stone 
of  which  numerous  chips  but  no  finished  implements  have  been  found. 
The  shells  at  this  point  were  first  noticed  by  Mr.  Calver  in  1890.  They 
may  not  all  be  of  Indian  origin,  as  some  may  be  due  to  Revolutionary 
soldiers. 

Harlem  River  Deposit.  Mr  Calver  says,  "Extending  from  2(M>th 
Street  to  211th  Street  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Harlem  River  and 
almost  on  a  line  with  Ninth  Avenue  was  another  large  deposit 
of  oyster  shells  lying  just  beneath  the  top  soil  of  the  field. 
These  shells  had  nearly  all  been  disturbed  by  the  plow  and  were 
interesting  only  for  their  color,  which  was  red.  Pieces  of  horn  of  deer 
and  split  bones  of  the  same  animal  were  common  among  the  shells;  but, 
in  spite  of  the  apparent  antiquity  of  the  deposit,  there  were,  even  in  the 
lowest  strata  of  it,  some  small  fragments  of  glass,  which  proved  that  either 
the  whole  mass  had  been  disturbed  or  else  the  shells  had  been  left  during 
the  historic  period.  There  are  several  stone  sinkers  and  hammerstones 
from  this  spot  in  Mr.  Carver's  collection  and  at  the  Museum. 

I  sham  Park  Site.  ( )n  the  knolls  along  the  south  side  of  [sham  Park, 
and  particularly  in  Isham's  Garden,  about  on  the  line  of  Isham  Street 
and  Seaman  Avenue,  the  soil  is  white  with  small  fragments  of  shells.  A 
number  of  arrow  points,  flint  chips,  hammerstones,  sinkers,  and  potsherds 
have  been  found  here.  On  the  knolls  to  the  south  of  this  garden,  an 
Indian  burial,  shell  pockets  with  small  deposits  of  pottery,  etc.,  and 
several  dog  burials,  have  been  found.  There  are  two  small  shell-heaps, 
containing  chips  and  potsherds,  in  the  Park  on  the  bank  of  the  Shin 
Canal,  and  several  shell  pockets  were  disturbed  in  excavating  218th 
Street  on  the  north  side  of  the  Park. 

Cold  Spring.  Cold  Spring  is  situated  at  t  he  cxt  reme  northern  end  of 
Manhattan  Island  on  the  southern  shore  of  Spuyten  Duvvil  (  'reek.  The 
India?)  remains  consist  of  three  rock-shelters  and  three  refuse  heaps.  The 
rock-shelter  is  a  formation  where  the  overhanging  rocks  form  a  small  cave 
or  shelter  which  the  Indians  used  as  a  dwelling  place.  All  t  heir  rubbish, 
such  as  oyster  shells,  broken  pottery,  and  broken  arrow-heads,  were 
dumped  near  by,  forming  the  so-called  shell-heaps.  Messrs.  (  alver  and 
McCuey  explored  the  shell-heaps;  but  Mr.  Chenoweth  was  the  fir>t  to 


54 


AMERICAX  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


suspect  the  existence  of  the  shelters.   There  is  only  one  which  is  likely  to 
have  been  used  as  a  dwelling  place,  the  others  being  places  where  food 
was  stored  or  shelters  for  fires  used  in  cooking.   These  shelters  face  east, 
and  are  at  the  foot  of  Inwood  Hill  (formerly  called  Cock  Hill),  which 
forms  the  most  northern  part  of  Manhattan  Island.   The  largest  one  was 
formed  by  several  of  the  rocks  breaking  off  the  cliffs  above  and  falling  in 
such  a  manner  that,  by  digging  out  some  of  the  earth  from  beneath  them, 
the  Indians  could  make  a  small  shelter.  Probably  it  was  occupied  by  one 
family,  while  the  others  lived  in  bark  wigwams  near  by.1   Another  of  the 
shelters  is  simply  an  excavation  under  the  end  of  a  huge  fragment  which 
also  dropped  from  the  cliffs  above,  and  the  third  is  a  large  crevice  in  the 
foot  of  these  cliffs.   When  Mr.  Chenoweth  first  explored  them,  all  these 
shelters  were  completely  filled  with  earth  which  had  gradually  worked 
its  way  in  since  their  occupation,  and  much  credit  is  due  him  for  suspect- 
ing their  presence.    In  them  he  found  fragments  of  pottery  and  stone 
implements,  together  with  the  bones  of  turkey  and  deer.   The  largest  of 
the  refuse  heaps  is  situated  on  a  rise  directly  in  front  of  these  shelters. 
It  consists  of  a  layer  of  shells,  in  places  one  foot  thick,  found  under  a 
layer  of  fine  loam,  a  black  earth  which  has  been  deposited  since  the  shells 
were  scattered  over  the  original  sandy  yellow  soil.  The  sheltered  position 
of  this  place  made  it  an  especially  desirable  camp  site.   The  hills  to  the 
south  and  west  formed  a  protection  to  the  camp  from  winds,  and  by 
Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek  access  could  be  had  to  either  Hudson  or  East 
River;  while  the  Cold  Spring,  from  which  the  place  takes  its  name,  fur- 
nished an  abundant  supply  of  fresh  water. 

Harlem  Ship  Canal.  Formerly  at  220th  Street  and  Kingsbridge 
Road  was  a  large  deposit  of  shells  on  the  westerly  side  of  the  road.  This 
was  destroyed  when  the  ship  canal  was  put  through.  As  with  the  In- 
wood  Station  site,  no  systematic  examination  of  this  place  was  ever 
made.  Mr.  John  Neafie  found  some  potsherds  herein  1886.  Mr.  Cheno- 
weth also  has  some  potsherds  from  here.2  Mr.  Calver  says  that  this  was  a 
large  deposit,  and  that  the  peculiar  thing  about  it  was  that  the  shells 
were  so  wedged  and  packed  together  that  a  pick  would  hardly  penetrate 
them.  They  lay  on  the  bare  rock  surface  in  cracks  in  the  rock;  a  condi- 
tion common  to  this  neighborhood. 

Shell  Pockets  at  211th  Street.  In  March,  1903,  there  was  considerable 
excitement  over  the  reported  discovery  of  an  Indian  graveyard  at  211th 
Street.3  The  graveyard  proved  to  have  been  that  of  some  slaves,  and  was 


^lemorial  History  of  New  York,  Vol.  I,  p.  33,  for  picture  of  houses,  and  p.  30  for  description. 
Mohn  Xeafie  collection,  20-2558;  Chenoweth,  20-3498. 
^Evening  Telegram,  March  1-4,  1903. 


INDIANS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 


situated  on  the  western  end  of  the  rise  hot  wood  21()th  and  21  Ith  Streets, 
on  the  eastern  end  of  which  is  the  old  Neagle  Burying  (  hound.  This  dis- 
covery was  interesting  because  under  the  negro  graves  several  shell 
pockets  of  undoubted  Indian  origin  came  to  light.  The  workmen,  in 
grading  Tenth  Avenue,  cut  into  this  hill  to  obtain  material  for  filling, 
and  uncovered  the  graves  and  pockets.  It  seems  almost  certain  that  the 
deposits  were  made  some  time  ago;  then  the  wind  blew  t  he  sand  over  t  he 
deposits  to  a  depth  of  four  or  five  feet,  and  negroes  later  used  this  place  as 
a  burial  ground.  In  support  of  this  theory  is  the  fact  thai  the  pockets 
were  four  or  five  feet  under  the  surface,  that  the  soil  above  showed  no 
signs  of  having  been  disturbed,  and  that  this  rise  is  put  down  on  the 
( rovernment  maps  of  this  section  as  a  sand  dune.1  During  the  summer  of 
1904.  Mr.  Calver  with  Messrs.  Hall  and  Bolton  uncovered  nine  or  more 
pockets  to  the  southwest  of  the  graveyard.2  These  pockets  all  seem  to 
have  been  of  the  same  period  as  the  others,  and  all  appear  to  have  been 
on  the  original  ground  surface,  although  those  farther  up  the  hill  were 
some  four  feet  under  the  present  surface.  In  one  of  these  pockets  was 
found  the  complete  skeleton  of  a  dog,3  in  another,  a  turtle  shell;  two 
others  contained  complete  snake  skeletons;  while  a  fifth  held  the  frag- 
ments of  a  small  pottery  vessel.  The  pockets  were  small,  being  about 
three  feet  in  diameter  and  of  equal  depth,  showing  no  signs  of  having  first 
been  used  as  fireplaces  and  then  filled  up,  though  charcoal  was  scattered 
among  the  shells.  Almost  all  the  relics  from  Van  Cortlandt  Park  were 
found  by  Mr.  James  in  pockets  similar  to  these. 

During  Indian  troubles  in  1675,  the  Wickquaskeek  at  Ann's  Hook, 
now  Pelham  Neck,  were  told  "to  remove  within  a  fortnight  to  their 
usual  winter  quarters  within  Hellgate  upon  this  Island."  River  says. 
"This  winter  retreat  was  either  the  woodlands  between  Harlem  Plains 
and  Kingsbridge,  at  that  date  still  claimed  by  these  Indians  as  hunting 
grounds,  or  Rechawanes  and  adjoining  lands  on  the  Bay  of  Hellgate,  as 
the  words  'within  Hellgate'  would  strictly  mean,  and  which,  by  the 
immense  shellbeds  found  there  formerly,  is  proved  to  have  been  a  favorite 
Indian  resort."4  A  little  later  the  Indians  asked  to  be  allowed  to  return 
to  their  maize  lands  on  Manhattan  Island  and  the  Governor  said  that 
they,  '"if  they  desire  it.  be  admitted  with  their  wives  and  children,  to 
plant  upon  this  Island,  but  nowhere  else,  if  they  remove;  and  that  it  be 
upon  the  north  point  of  the  Island  near  Spuyten  Duvvel.'"' 

'New  York  Geologic  Folio. 

!.\ew  York  Tribune,  Oct.  30,  l'MM.and  New  York  Sun,  Dec.  14;  1004. 

3Allthatcould  be  saved  of  this  skeleton  has  been  presented  to  t\\>-  Museum  by  Mr  Kdward  llaga- 
nian  Hall. 

'History  of  Harlem,  p.  3G»». 
'History  of  Harlem,  p.  369. 


56 


AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Bolton  Post,  in  writing  to  the  editor  of  "The  Evening 
Post,"  June  19th  of  the  year  of  the  opening  of  the  Harlem  Ship  Canal 
(1895),  speaks  of  some  Indians  who  were  allowed  to  camp  on  the  south 
side  of  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek  on  the  Bolton  property  in  1817.  Ruttenber 
says  that  the  Reckgawanc  had  their  principal  village  at  Yonkers,  but 
that  on  Berrian's  Neck  (Spuyten  Duyvil  Hill)  was  situated  their  castle 
or  fort  called  Nipinichsen.  This  fort  was  protected  by  a  strong  stockade 
and  commanded  the  romantic  scenery  of  the  Papirinimen,  or  Spuyten 
Duyvil  Creek,  and  the  Mahicanituk  (Hudson  River),  the  junction  of 
which  was  called  the  Shorackappock.  It  was  from  this  castle  that  the 
Indians  came  who  attacked  Hudson  on  his  return  down  the  river.1 
Some  small  shell  deposits  occur  on  Spuyten  Duyvil  Hill,  but  as  yet  this 
"castile"  has  not  been  definitely  located.  The  village  site  at  Yonkers, 
according  to  Mr.  James,  is  now  covered  by  buildings;  but  several  relics 
found  near  the  site  years  ago  are  now  in  the  Manor  Hall  at  that  place 
(1904). 

Judging  from  these  references,  we  might  conclude  that  the  territory 
occupied  by  the  tribe  commonly  known  as  Manhattan  included  Man- 
hattan Island  and  that  part  of  the  mainland  which  is  west  of  the  Bronx 
River  south  of  Yonkers,  and  that  these  Indians  were  a  sub-tribe  of  the 
Wappinger  division  of  the  Mahikan. 

Notable  Types  of  Remains. 

Dog  Burials.  The  first  dog  burials  were  found  by  Mr.  Calver  in 
1895.  The  first  burial  was  unearthed  at  the  summit  of  a  ridge  of  soft 
earth  at  209th  Street,  near  the  Harlem  River.  The  ridge,  which  was 
about  twelve  feet  high,  had  been  partly  cut  away  for  the  grading  of 
Ninth  Avenue.  It  was  at  the  highest  part  of  the  hillock  that  a  pocket 
of  oyster  and  clam  shells  was  noticed,  from  which  a  few  fragments  of 
Indian  pottery  which  lay  on  the  face  of  the  bank  had  evidently  fallen. 
The  shells,  upon  inspection,  were  found  to  have  served  as  a  covering  for 
the  skeleton  of  a  dog  or  wolf.  Another  burial  was  found  on  May  18th 
within  fifty  yards  of  the  first  burial.  It  had  been  covered  with  shells 
just  as  the  first  one,  but  had  been  disturbed  by  workmen.  Mr.  Calver 
says:  "The  two  canine  burials  were  situated  at  a  point  just  without  the 
borders  of  the  Harlem  River  shell-heap  and  were  distinct  from  it.  The 
shells  were  found  to  be  matched,  hence  it  was  concluded  that  they  were 
thrown  in  unopened  or  eaten  on  the  spot.  ,As  the  skeletons  were  intact 


i Ruttenber,  pp.  77-78. 


FXDIAXS  OF  MAXIIATTAX  ISLAXI) 


57 


and  the  bones  uninjured,  all  probability  of  the  animals  having  been  eaten 
is  disposed  of."  These  burials  are  common  in  1 1ns  vicinity;  Mr.  Carver 
thinks  they  were  for  some  religious  purpose,  and  suggests  m  relation  to  i  he 
"White  Dog  Feast"  of  the  Onondaga  of  this  state.1  Eowever,  n  is 
known  that  the  carcass  of  the  sacrificed  dog  was  burnt  by  the  [roqUois 
and  the  explanation  given  on  page  46  is  probably  correct . 


INDIAN  BURIAL,  MANHATTAN 


Indian  Burials.  Notwithstanding  all  the  efforts  of  various  col- 
lectors, the  first  Indian  burials  to  be  discovered  on  the  Island  were  due  to 
the  activities  of  Messrs.  Bolton  and  Calver  in  1904.  The  improvement 
of  Seaman  Avenue,  Inwood,  at  thai  time,  uncovered  many  relics  of  the 
long  extinct  Indian  inhabitants,  among  which  Mr.  Bolton  saw  unmis- 
takable signs  of  Indian  graves.  To  quote  from  this  gentleman:  "It 
thus  became  evident  that  there  were  human  interments  in  the  vicinity, 
and  in  August.  1907.  the  first  burial  was  discovered  under  a  shell  pit  in 
Corbett's  garden.  The  grading  process  had  been  extended  only  about 
eighteen  inches  below  t  he  sod,  but  had  sufficed  to  dest  my  t  he  jaw  of  t  he 


iNew  York  Herald,  May  26,  1  B9& 


58  AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


skeleton  which  extended  upwards,  as  did  also  the  foot  bones.  The  bones 
lay  in  and  upon  a  close  mass  of  oyster  shells,  some  of  which  were  un- 
opened. The  skeleton  reclined  on  its  right  side,  facing  west.  The  arms 
were  flexed  and  crossed,  the  knees  bent  and  the  head  thrown  back.  No 
traces  of  weapons  were  found,  nor  were  there  any  other  objects  found, 
save  a  fragment  of  an  animal  bone. 

"The  location  and  position  led  to  further  exploration  which  early 
in  1908  led  to  still  more  interesting  discoveries.  Sunday,  March  22nd, 
being  the  first  day  in  the  field  for  exploration  for  the  season  for  1908, 
W.  L.  Calver  and  the  writer  met  at  Seaman  Avenue  and  Hawthorne 
Street,  Manhattan,  to  discuss  plans  for  further  excavations  on  this 
Indian  village  site.  The  rains  of  the  winter  1907-8  had  washed  the  west 
bank  where  the  layer  of  oyster  shells  and  black  dirt  lay  along  the  hill, 
and  a  patch  of  red  burnt  earth  was  observed,  which  on  digging  out,  dis- 
closed a  fireplace,  evidently  of  the  period  of  the  Revolution,  having  some 
large  burnt  stones,  ashes,  wood  charcoal,  brick,  broken  rum  bottles,  a 
wine  glass  nearly  complete,  a  large  open  clasp-knife  with  bone  handle,  a 
hoop-iron  pot-hook,  various  forged  head  nails  and  a  curious  folding  cork- 
screw. Gold  buttons  of  Revolutionary  pattern  and  an  officer's  silver 
button  of  the  Royal  Marines,  together  with  pewter  buttons  of  the  17th 
Regiment,  disclosed  who  had  occupied  the  spot. 

"At  one  part  of  this  fireplace,  we  came  upon  a  pocket  of  oyster 
shells,  evidently  Indian,  about  two  feet  deep,  and  on  removing  some  of 
these,  had  the  good  fortune  to  uncover  a  human  thigh-bone.  We  worked 
carefully  into  the  shells  and  under  the  pocket,  gradually  disclosing  the 
complete  remains  of  a  full-grown  man  lying  on  its  right  side,  feet  to  the 
north,  head  facing  east,  knees  doubled  up,  the  left  arm  extended  down 
through  the  thighs.  The  feet  had  been  within  the  area  of  the  hole  in 
which  the  Revolutionary  fireplace  had  been  made,  and  only  one  or  two 
foot  bones  were  found.  At  a  later  period  other  foot  bones  were  found  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  Revolutionary  fireplace,  evidently  having  been 
displaced  in  its  construction.  The  right  arm  was  flexed,  and  the  hand 
was  under  the  head,  the  latter  was  intact  and  every  tooth  was  in  place. 
Shells  had  been  packed  over  the  body,  and  some  around  it.  We  were 
much  puzzled  by  a  number  of  human  bones  lying  compactly  together 
by  the  skeleton,  in  a  position  that  would  have  been  in  its  lap,  had  it  been 
upright. 

"We  removed  the  skull,  covered  the  remains,  and  on  Sunday,  March 
29th,  renewed  the  work.  We  went  carefully'  to  work  upon  the  cluster  of 
mixed  bones  in  front  of  the  large  skeleton,  and  soon  found  them  to  be 


IXDIAXS  OF  MAX  II  ATT  AN  ISLAND 


5<) 


Acade my    S  c 


&  Pksf/c 


LOCATION  OF  BURIALS,  PITS  AND  SHELL-BEDS  NEAR  INWOOD 

1.  Human  remains.  2.  Shell  pit,  deer  antler.  3.  Shell  pit.  4.  Shell-pit, 
pottery.  5.  Shell  pits.  6.  Shell  pit,  sturgeon  below.  7.  Shell  pit,  sturgeon  scales. 
S,  9.  Shell  pits.  10.  Human  remains.  11.  Fire  pit.  12.  Shell  pit.  13.  Dog 
burial,  puppy.  14.  Shell  pit.  15.  Part  of  a  jar.  lt>.  Shell  pit,  fish  and  meat  bones. 
17.  Shell  pits.  IS.  Two  dogs  in  shell  pit.  1!).  Human  skeleton.  1907.  19a.  Female 
skeleton.  1908.  20.  Human  remains  when  house  was  built.  21.  Small  tire  pits, 
Revolutionary.  22.  Large  shell  pit.  23.  Large  shell  pit.  24.  Shell  pit.  2">  Don 
burial.  26,  27.  28.  Shell  pits.  29.  Two  human  skeletons,  male  and  female.  30. 
Revolutionary  fireplace  "Royal  Marines"  and  '17th.*'  31.  Skeleton  and  infant, 
female.  32.  Skeleton  (Chenoweth,  1908).  33.  Revolutionary  fireplace.  7 1st, 
officers'  buttons.  D.  Dyckman  dwelling.  R:.  R-.  Revolutionary  fireplaces.  R3. 
Revolutionary  well. 


60 


AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


rather  compactly  arranged  in  a  rectangular  form  about  14  by  26  inches, 
the  long  bones  parallel.  The  vertebrae  abruptly  ended  parallel  with  the 
head  of  the  larger  skeleton,  and  after  working  some  time,  we  found  a  skull 
placed  below,  beneath  the  pile  of  bones  in  a  vertical  position,  facing 
north,  the  lower  jaw  of  which  was  disengaged,  and  was  placed  sideways 
in  front  of  the  face.  The  back  of  the  skull  was  broken  in,  and  was  black 
with  marks  of  burning.  The  lower  jaw  was  burned,  and  some  of  the 
teeth  split  by  fire.  The  arm  and  leg  bones  were  charred  at  the  joints. 
Inside  the  skull  was  a  burned  toe  bone.  There  were  some  oyster  shells 
among  the  charred  remains. 

" A  significant  fact  was  that  the  right  arm  bones  of  the  large  skeleton 
were  below  the  pile  of  burned  bones.  This  feature,  and  the  compact 
arrangement  of  the  latter  within  the  space  in  front  of  and  at  the  same 
level  as  the  large  skeleton,  seem  to  point  strongly  towards  an  intentional 
arrangement  of  these  bones,  in  front  of  the  large  corpse  and  to  indicate 
the  simultaneous  burial  of  the  two  bodies.  On  examination,  the  large 
skeleton  proved  to  be  that  of  an  adult  male,  and  the  dismembered  re- 
mains those  of  a  female  of  about  35  years  of  age.  No  implements  were 
found  with  the  remains,  but  a  part  of  a  stone  pestle  and  a  rude  celt  lay 
under  the  sod  among  the  oysters  above  the  large  skeleton. 

"On  Sunday,  June  14,  1908,  another  burial  was  found  about  20  feet 
north  of  the  above.  This  burial  consisted  of  an  adult  skeleton  doubled 
up  and  its  back  much  curved,  and  was  apparently  that  of  a  female  of 
mature  age.  Between  the  knees,  the  remains  of  a  small  infant  were  laid, 
the  skull  of  the  latter  being  fragmentary.  The  right  hand  of  the  adult 
was  below  the  infant  and  the  left  hand  around  the  throat.  The  skull 
was  intact  and  had  nearly  all  the  teeth.  One  finger  bone  had  grown 
together  at  the  joint  in  a  crooked  position  apparently  due  to  disease. 
On  lifting  the  ribs  of  the  right  side,  an  arrow-head  of  flint  fell  out  be- 
tween the  fourth  and  fifth  bones.  These  skeletons  lay  about  two  and  a 
half  feet  below  the  grass,  and  a  pocket  of  oyster  shells  was  over  the  head. 
The  woman's  remains  lay  within  a  space  about  31  inches  long  by  50 
inches  wide,  flat  in  the  hard  red  sand  bed  facing  east. 

"Shortly  after  these  remains  were  discovered,  Mr.  Chenoweth  ex- 
tended the  excavation  previously  made  by  the  explorers  at  the  side  of  a 
large  oyster  shell  pit  in  the  same  bank  of  sand,  and  uncovered  a  male 
skeleton  of  which  he  preserved  the  skull.  Some  small  fragments  of  the 
.skeleton  were  afterwards  found  by  the  writer  on  this  spot.  Contractors 
for  the  sewer  in  Seaman  Avenue  also  uncovered  the  remains  of  a  young 
female  close  to  the  position  of  several  of  the  shell  pits  previously  described. 


ixdiaxs  or  max/iattax  island  61 


"These  interments  have  some  curious  features.  The  position  of  the 
remains  facing  oast,  sometimes  west,  the  absence  of  weapons  or  other 
objects  and  the  oyster  shells  packed  with  or  above  them  arc  subject  -  for 
interesting  discussion  on  which  future  finds  may  throw  much  light,  as 
also  upon  t he  peculiar  double  burial  and  the  burnt  state  of  the  female  re- 
mains." 

Bibliography. 

Anthropological  Papers  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History, 
Volume  III;  Hudson-Fulton  Publication,  "The  Indians  of  (  beater  New 
York  and  the  Lower  Hudson."  New  York,  1909. 

This  volume  contains  a  series  of  papers  by  Messrs.  Finch,  Bolton, 
Harrington,  Speck,  Schrabisch,  and  Skinner,  dealing  minutely  with  all 
phases  of  the  subject  in  a  thoroughly  scientific  and  less  popular  manner 
than  the  present  volume.  Especial  attention  is  paid  to  the  research  in 
local  archaeology,  with  maps  and  notes  on  most  of  the  important  sites. 
The  Museum  also  published  a  guide  leaflet  to  the  collection  on  exhibit  ion. 

SI: inner,  Alanson,  The  Indians  of  Greater  New  York;  Torch  Press, 
( ledar  Rapids,  Iowa,  1915. 

A  very  full  and  thoroughgoing  account  of  the  history  and  ethnology 
of  the  local  Indians,  containing  many  sources  not  available  at  the  time 
when  Volume  III  of  the  Anthropological  Papers  was  published.  The 
archaeology  of  the  locality  is  also  written  up  in  a  more  popular  style 
than  the  preceding  publication.  These  two  papers  with  the  present  guide 
leaflet  bring  the  subject  of  our  local  Indians  thoroughly  up  bo  date  and 
summarize  the  older  authors. 

Ruttenber,  E.  M.,  History  of  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  Hudson  River. 
Albany,  1872. 

A  little  old-fashioned  in  style,  and  with  a  few  errors,  but  brimful  of 
all  sorts  of  useful  information  on  the  subject . 

Beauchamp,  Rev.  W.  M.,  Bulletin  of  the  New  York  State  Museum. 
Nos.  16,  18,  22,  32,41. 

These  list,  figure,  and  describe  the  types  of  chipped  and  polished 
stone  implements,  and  the  pottery,  shell,  bone,  metal,  and  wooden  utensils 
found  in  New  York  State.  Bulletin  32  contains  a  list  of  all  the  Indian 
village  and  camp  sites,  shell-heaps,  rock  and  cave  shelters,  and  cemeteries 
then  recorded  from  the  entire  state,  with  a  map  upon  which  the  Locations 
of  these  are  plotted.  This  scries  is  invaluable  to  the  student,  especially 
to  one  engaged  in  research  work. 


62 


AMERICAN  MUSEUM  GUIDE  LEAFLETS 


Farrand,  Livingston,  Basis  of  American  History.  Harpers:  The 
American  Nation  Series,  Vol.  I. 

"This  volume  contains  a  careful  review  of  the  physical  features  of 
North  America,  which  is  exceedingly  helpful  to  the  student  in  under- 
standing the  development  of  the  various  colonies.  This  is  supplemented 
by  a  survey  of  the  principal  lines  of  communication — Indian  trails, 
portages,  water-ways,  and  mountain  passes — which  have  been  of  the 
utmost  importance  in  determining  the  course  of  events  in  American 
history  *  *  *  Of  particular  value  is  Professor  Farrand's  able  discussion 
of  the  American  Indians.  Reasoning  from  a  great  mass  of  collected  data, 
he  reaches  sane  and  conservative  conclusions.  The  author  has  made  a 
point  of  condensation,  and  has  supplied  the  want  of  a  thorough,  syste- 
matic study  of  the  Indians  in  a  small  compass." 

Heckwelder,  J.  G.  E.,  History,  Manners,  and  Customs  of  the  Indian 
Nations  who  once  inhabited  Pennsylvania.   Philadelphia,  1876. 

At  the  present  writing  this  is  the  most  complete  source  of  informa- 
tion on  the  Delaware  Indians  from  the  time  of  their  migration  from  New 
Jersey  and  Eastern  Pennsylvania  to  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Harrington,  M.  R.,u Some  Customs  of  the  Delaware  Indians";  the 
Museum  Journal  of  the  Museum  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Vol. 
I,  No.  3;  and  "  Vestiges  of  Material  Culture  Among  the  Canadian  Dela- 
wares,"  American  Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  Vol.  10,  No.  3,  1908,  A  Prelimi- 
nary Sketch  of  Lenape  Culture,  Ibid,  Vol.  15,  P.  208. 

The  most  recent  account  of  the  Delaware,  but  merely  preliminary 
sketches,  forerunners  of  a  much  larger  work  based  on  personal  archaeo- 
logical research  about  New  York  City  and  ethnological  study  among  the 
surviving  Delaware  of  Canada  and  Oklahoma,  which,  when  given  to  the 
public,  will  be  the  dernier  mot  on  the  subject. 

Brinton,  D.  G.,  The  Lenape  and  Their  Legends:  Philadelphia,  1885. 
This  work  contains  the  Walum  Olum  and  its  translation,  in  addition  to  a 
mass  of  ethnological  material.  An  excellent  treatise  on  the  Delaware 
Indians. 

O'Callaghan,  E.  B.,  Documentary  History  of  New  York.  Four 
volumes;  Albany,  1863-7. 

Contains,  as  its  name  implies,  many  of  the  early  documents  relating 
to  the  settlement  of  New  York.  A  very  important  work  containing 
many  of  the  sources  of  the  present  volume. 

De  Vries,  David  Peterson,  Voyages  from  Holland  to  America; 
(translation);  New  York,  1853.  A  rare  and  valuable  work,  to  be  ob- 
tained only  in  the  large  public  libraries.   This  is  the  personal  account  of 


INDIAXS  OF  MA  XII A  TTA  X  ISLAND  63 


the  good  patroon's  own  experience  as  an  eye-wit  ness  and  participator  in 
the  early  Indian  wars  in  the  New  Netherlands.  Written  in  a  naive, 
fluent,  and  interesting  manner. 

Morgan,  Lewis  H.,  The  League  of  the  Iroquois.   In  several  editions. 

A  comprehensive  study  of  the  Five, later  Six  Nations,  especially  of 
the  Seneca.  One  of  the  first  careful  scientific  studies  ever  made  of  any 
t ribe,  and  still  a  classic. 

Parker,  A.  (\,  An  Erie  Indian  Village  and  Cemetery,  Iroquois 
Corn  Foods,  and  other  publications  in  the  Bulletins  of  the  New  York 
State  Museum,  Albany,  N.  Y.;  in  the  same  series  as  those  of  Dr.  William 
Beauchamp. 

The  first  of  the  works  mentioned  is  the  best  published  account  of  the 
archaeological  work  on  any  one  site  in  the  state,  and  should  be  read  by 
everyone  intending  to  do  research. 

The  second  gives  a  valuable  insight  into  ancient  Indian  methodsof 
cookery. 

All  of  Mr.  Parker's  works  are  valuable  because  of  his  deep  knowledge 
of  all  things  Indian  and  his  experience  as  State  Archaeologist. 
Furman,  Gabriel,  Antiquities  of  Long  Island.  N.  Y..  1 S74. 
Tooker,  W.  W.,  Indian  Plaee-Names  on  Long  Island.  N.  Y.,  1911 
Knickerbocker  Press). 


THE  THUNDERBIRD 

Engraved  on  a  fragment  of  pottery  found  at  Shinnecock  Hills,  Long  Island. 
The  thunderbirds  were  gods  and  patrons  of  warriors  and  it  is  one  of  their  duties  to 
guard  mankind  from  the  evil  horned  serpents  pane  10)  thai  dwell  under  the  earth  or 
beneath  the  waters. 


THE  HABITAT  GROUPS  OF  NORTH  AMERICAN  BIRDS.  By  Frank  M. 
Chapman,  Curator  of  Ornithology.  January,  1921.  Price,  25  cents. 

These  celebrated  groups  are  designed  to  illustrate  not  only  the  habits 
but  also  the  haunts,  or  habitats,  of  the  species  shown.  The  backgrounds 
are  careful  studies  from  nature  and  each  represents  some  definite  locality. 
Twenty-two  of  these  groups  are  shown  in  this  leaflet. 
THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  HORSE.    By  W.  D.  Matthew,  Ph.D.,  Curator, 
Department  of  Vertebrate  Palaeontology.  63  pages,  39  illustrations.  Price,  25 
cents. 

The  past  geologic  history  of  the  Horse  affords  the  most  complete  and 
convincing  illustration  of  evolution  among  mammals.  This  leaflet,  based 
upon  material  in  this  Museum,  describes  the  successive  stages  in  its  evolution 
from  the  four-toed  "Eohippus  no  bigger  than  a  fox"  to  the  single-toed  horse 
of  to-day. 

THE  INDIANS  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND  AND  VICINITY.  By  Alanson 
Skinner,  Assistant  Curator,  Department  of  Anthropology.  April,  1915. 
Price,  20  cents. 

HOW  TO  COLLECT  AND  PRESERVE  INSECTS.  By  Frank  E.  Lutz.  Price, 
10  cents. 

OUR  COMMON  BUTTERFLIES.  By  Frank  E.  Lutz  and  F.  E.  Watson. 

Describes  and  figures  natural  size  about  40  species  of  our  more  common 
butterflies.  Price,  15  cents. 


GUIDE  TO  THE  COLLECTIONS 
ILLUSTRATED 
New  Edition  issued  February,  1921,  135  pages, 
65  illustrations,  many  full  pages.    Price  40  cents. 

These  publications  may  be  purchased  in  the  Visitors'  Room,  near  the 
entrance,  from  the  Attendants  or  from  the  Librarian. 


AMERICAN  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 


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